China willing to use military to crush Hong Kong protests
BY: Joel Gehrke - Washington Examiner - 7-24-19
RE:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...-kong-protests
China is willing to use military force in Hong Kong to quell anti-Beijing protests if the local government cannot contain the political crisis.
“The image of Hong Kong as an oriental pearl must never be stained,” Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman at China’s national defense ministry, said during a briefing Wednesday in Beijing.
A deployment would be the first use of the military to put down pro-democracy protests since the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989. Wu raised the prospect by citing the Garrison Law that governs the Chinese military’s relationship with Hong Kong. “There are already specific and clear instructions," he said.
Wu's statement came in response to a direct question about whether the defense ministry would “respond to the rising trend of pro-independence forces in Hong Kong,” according to a translation provided by state-run media. China maintains a garrison of roughly 6,000 troops in Hong Kong, but the forces can only be deployed “to carry out the task of assistance in maintenance of public order” if local authorities request the help, according to the law that governs the relationship between the former British colony and the mainland government.
“There is no need to ask for assistance from the garrison,” a Hong Kong government spokesman responded.
The unrest reached new heights on Sunday after protesters vandalized China’s liaison office in Hong Kong, outraging the regime in Beijing. That night, bands of white-shirted men armed with batons descended on a train station filled with people apparently returning from the protests. More than 40 people were hospitalized, but the police didn’t arrive until the attacks were over, and none of the assailants was arrested. Protests have roiled Hong Kong since early June, when the Beijing-backed local government attempted to pass legislation that would allow extraditions to mainland China.
Activists denounced the legislation as "legalized kidnapping" as they warned that Hong Kong judges would have to rubber-stamp extradition requests from the mainland. Local authorities have suspended the effort, but the demonstrations have continued, with protesters demanding the resignation of Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam.
“Some behavior of the radical protesters is challenging the authority of the central government and the bottom line of ‘one country, two systems,’” Wu said. “This is intolerable.”
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Personal note: Once again I'm afraid for the people of Hong Kong. Once the military moves in the whole system will be in total chaos. I think NATO has to get involved to resolve these issues. Bring in a Chinese diplomat but not the military would be a start. I have no doubts that they want the revenue and the naval ports for China usage should a war break out. Those Hong Kong folks know this and they don't want to see a full blown communistic way of life - nor be subject - to a very possible target should a war break out.
Boats