Fears of A ‘Color Revolution’
On the mainland, pundits have warned that Hong Kong is on the brink of disaster. State-run newspapers have called on the public to help protect China’s sovereignty. Prominent officials have blamed American diplomats for working as “black hands” intent on fomenting an uprising.
Beijing once worked diligently to keep word of the Hong Kong protests from reaching the mainland, perhaps fearing the unrest could spread. But in recent days, Mr. Xi’s government has led an all-out effort to discredit the protesters.
The sudden shift reflects deepening concern within the party that it is facing a secessionist threat that could undermine Mr. Xi’s hard-line image.
It poses a delicate challenge. Mr. Xi, who has led a broad crackdown on dissent, does not want to be perceived as yielding to the party’s foes. Yet he is likely wary of taking drastic action, such as deploying troops, for fear of a broader fallout.
Such moves could energize his critics, including pro-independence forces in Taiwan, a self-ruling island that China claims as its own. Hong Kong has long served as China’s entree into the global financial system and a symbol of the Communist Party’s ability to work with free-market societies; an overreaction might alienate big companies and imperil the territory’s economy.
“Anything too dramatic is going to be quite a high cost. It will be called Tiananmen 2.0, and they don’t want that kind of reputational hit,” said Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese politics at King’s College London, referring to Beijing’s bloody crackdown on protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
For the moment, Mr. Xi’s strategy appears to be to throw the government’s support behind Mrs. Lam and the police while blaming the United States for sowing strife.
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No one wish the worst should happen, but China will shoot if the situation gets out of control. This is the way that they have always known that has worked. Rebellion must be crushed. The Communist ideology must be upheld at all cost. That is their DNA. The communist ideology runs deep in their blood.
