Military
Chinese military can be deployed at Hong Kong’s request to contain protests, Beijing says
Radical protesters are challenging mainland government’s authority and principle of ‘one country, two systems’, defence spokesman saysGarrison Law gives Hong Kong option of asking for PLA’s help to maintain public order
The Chinese military has said that it can be deployed to Hong Kong to maintain social order at the request of the city’s government, adding that Sunday’s siegeof the mainland government’s liaison office in the city was intolerable.
Reaction to the remarks by defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian has been mixed. Critics and a business representative said it was a red line warning, but officials from the city government and a military analyst said it did not mean plans were afoot to mobilise troops.
Wu echoed Tuesday’s state media reports by saying the vandalism of the central government liaison office in Hong Kong – after weeks of mass protests against the city’s extradition bill – was a challenge to the bottom line of the principle of “one country, two systems”.