Serious Tiananmen Square Sequel Coming Soon .........................

[Asterix]

Chinese army’s Hong Kong chief says troops are ready to protect nation’s sovereignty

• Commander of People’s Liberation Army’s Hong Kong garrison comments on Hong Kong for first time since protests against extradition bill began in June
• Garrison releases three-minute video of anti-riot drills, featuring tanks

The chief of the Chinese military garrison in Hong Kong has spoken for the first time about the ongoing unrest in the city, warning that violent clashes would not be tolerated and that the army was determined to protect China’s sovereignty.
Chen Daoxiang, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) Hong Kong garrison, made the warning at a reception in Hong Kong celebrating the 92nd anniversary of the Chinese military on Wednesday, when the garrison also released a promotional video that stated that troops stationed in the city were able to protect its long-term stability.
One of the scenes in the video features a soldier shouting in Cantonese during an anti-riot drill: “All consequences are at your own risk.”

Chen’s comments marked the first time he had commented on Hong Kong since protests erupted in early June against the city’s controversial extradition bill.
The bill proposed
the transfer of suspects to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has no extradition agreement, including mainland China.

“Recently, there have been a series of extremely violent incidents happening in Hong Kong,” he said at the reception, held at the garrison’s central barracks in Admiralty on Hong Kong Island.
“This has damaged the prosperity and stability of the city, and challenged the rule of law and social order. The incidents have seriously threatened the life and safety of Hong Kong citizens, and violated the bottom line of ‘one country, two systems’,” he said.

“This should not be tolerated and we express our strong condemnation.”

Hong Kong and mainland government officials said
the vandalism
of the central government’s liaison office building in Hong Kong on July 21 – during which the national emblem was sprayed with graffiti – should not be tolerated. They described the protesters as radical and extreme.
Chen said the garrison resolutely supported Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the city’s police in maintaining law and order.

“We resolutely support the action to maintain Hong Kong’s rule of law by the people who love the nation and the city, and we are determined to protect national sovereignty, security, stability and the prosperity of Hong Kong,” he said.
The PLA would adhere to the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, as well as to the Hong Kong Garrison Law and the direction of the Central Military Commission, headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chen said.
Lam and Hong Kong’s former leader Tung Chee-hwa both attended the reception.

The Hong Kong garrison released a three-minute video on Wednesday, showing anti-terrorism and anti-riot drills. Tanks are mobilised in some of the drills.
In an anti-riot exercise, troops are seen marching with a red warning flag telling rioters to “stop charging, or we use force”.
“All consequences are at your own risk,” a solider yells.

Concerns over whether the PLA could become involved in maintaining order have been heightened with protests continuing in Hong Kong against the now suspended extradition bill. Some of the protests have ended in violent clashes.
The Hong Kong government said earlier that the city was fully capable of dealing with its own affairs and maintaining public order, and there was no need for help from the garrison.

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Global Times, a mainland tabloid newspaper published under People’s Daily, said last week that troops should be deployed in Hong Kong only in the event of the city being turned into an anti-China base by the US, a humanitarian disaster, or armed riots by radicals trying to take control of the city’s nerve centre.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong...hong-kong-chief-says-troops-are-ready-protect

 

[nightsafari]

hoseh liao... got news and action coming...

 

[laksaboy]

Relax, SCMP is a pro-CCP propaganda mouthpiece since the day certain editors were changed.

CCP barks a lot, but it doesn't bite.

 

[zhihau]

Altogether now!!! HOOT AH!!!

 

[Asterix]

Relax, SCMP is a pro-CCP propaganda mouthpiece since the day certain editors were changed.

CCP barks a lot, but it doesn't bite.

The White House is monitoring what a senior administration official called a congregation of Chinese forces on Hong Kong’s border.


Weeks of unrest in the Chinese territory have begun to overwhelm Hong Kong’s police, who have found themselves in violent clashes with protesters. China warned Monday that the civil disorder had gone “far beyond” peaceful protest after police deployed tear gas over the weekend.


The nature of the Chinese buildup wasn’t clear; the official said that units of the Chinese military or armed police had gathered at the border with Hong Kong. The official briefed reporters on a range of issues on condition he not be identified.

Eurasia Group China analyst Andrew Coflan said he was taking the White House concerns “with a grain of salt” as it was unclear whether the White House was merely observing a large swearing-in ceremony of around 19,000 police personnel in China’s southern Guangdong province.
“I do not know if this is what they’re referring to, but if so this statement strikes me as needlessly escalatory,” Coflan said in an email. “Yes, there may be some signaling from China in the assembly of this many security forces in Guangdong, but that is far different than anti-riot troops marshaling in Shenzhen.”


Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a briefing Wednesday that she was not aware of a situation on the border.
Under the Basic Law that governs Hong Kong, the maintenance of public order falls to local authorities, while China’s central government is responsible for the overall defense of the territory. Hong Kong can still ask Beijing “for assistance from the garrison in the maintenance of public order and in disaster relief.”
China’s People’s Liberation Army maintains a garrison of reportedly around 6,000 troops in Hong Kong, along with a naval squadron and a helicopter regiment. There are even more troops stationed just across the border in Shenzhen.

‘Right Thing’
The mainland government said Tuesday that violence in Hong Kong was a “creation of the U.S.,” a charge the administration official denied.
The developments come as President Donald Trump seeks a trade deal with China and just as the two nations resumed negotiations in Shanghai. Trump has spoken only sparingly about the protests, praising Chinese President Xi Jinping for his restraint. But it’s unclear how much planning the U.S. has done to prepare for possible Chinese military intervention in Hong Kong.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urged the Chinese on Monday to “do the right thing” in managing the protests in Hong Kong, which began more than eight weeks ago, after the city-state’s executive, Carrie Lam, tried to win passage of a law allowing extraditions to the mainland.
Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, responded to Pompeo on Tuesday by blaming the U.S. for the protests.
“It’s clear that Mr. Pompeo has put himself in the wrong position and still regards himself as the head of the CIA,” Hua said, referring to Pompeo’s previous role at the intelligence agency. “He might think that violent activities in Hong Kong are reasonable because after all, this is the creation of the U.S.”


Pompeo, heading to a regional conference in Bangkok on Tuesday, responded mildly when asked by a reporter on his plane what he’d say to the Chinese foreign minister when they met at the event.
“With respect to Hong Kong, this is the people of Hong Kong asking their government to listen to them,” he said. “So it’s always appropriate for every government to listen to their people.”
Paul Sullivan, an international security expert at the National Defense University, said that China views the situation in terms of its long-term impact on the regime’s central power.
“The Chinese most likely have a very long-term perspective on this, and they aren’t going to be one China and two systems anymore,” Sullivan said. “My sense is that they want to completely chew up Hong Kong and make it part of the central part of China, maybe to improve their trading and economic base.”
Charles Lipson, a political science professor at the University of Chicago, said the U.S.’s options to intervene would be limited.
“There’s very little the U.S. can do, should do, or will want to do prior to a major crackdown,” Lipson said. “After which the U.S. will complain mightily but from the point of view of the U.S., there’s essentially nothing that can be done if the Chinese want to crack down on Hong Kong.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...buildup-of-chinese-forces-on-hong-kong-border