He does not want a drone up his but. And he is laying the ground work for many more Snowdens.
Snowden needs time for this to develop. HK does have some autonomy, and a "real" legal system and freedoms not found elsewhere in China. My understanding is that Snowden probably could be extradited eventually, but he can buy a lot of time with a legal defense, particularly IF he has money for a top notch lawyer. Plus he can threaten to go to the Chinese gov't with much more damaging goodies (which I believe The Guardian has said he has and they have seen). In effect, he may have a "dead man switch" attached to a quite large bomb. This is a more credible threat if he is in a unique "in-between" but still highly developed place like HK. This as opposed to someone like that poor fool who produced "Innocence of Muslims" and is presently languishing in a jail cell, effectively silenced.*
*At least for now - I've read that he says he still intends to finish it when he gets out, whenever that is...
As for more Snowdens coming out, indeed, I just heard the interview with William Binney, and Binney needs to get on more popular shows than Beck, NOW. His former position & background cannot be belittled the way Snowden's has.
Would also add that many people missed the main point about the UK government and American spying of the previous G8 meeting that he released a few days ago. He targeted a real time event that does not happen very often. In other words, he must have access to just about everything, or a whole lot more then the US Government is admitting.