Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian newspaper said Monday that Edward Snowden chose the semiautonomous Chinese region because it was the least bad option open to him.
Greenwald said Snowden wants to remain out of the "clutches" of the U.S. government for as long as possible but is fully aware that he won't succeed.
Snowden says he worked as a contractor at the National Security Agency and the CIA.
Snowden allowed The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers to reveal his identity on Sunday as the source of a series of top-secret documents outlining two NSA surveillance programs.
