Protests over civil liberties have raged in Hong Kong for weeks, with regular violence as government-backed gangs have attacked demonstrators. Now the Chinese Communist leadership is openly declaring the People's Liberation Army could be deployed to suppress the protests recalling the massacre in Tiananmen Square two decades ago against democracy demonstrators.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian suggested such a deployment may occur if the Hong Kong government requests it, multiple news outlets reported, wrote the South China Morning Post.
Asked how China’s Defense Ministry would handle a rise of calls for Hong Kong “independence,” Wu pointed to “clear provisions” in Hong Kong’s Garrison Law, section 3, article 14, the Financial Times reported, citing the spokesman’s comments at a news briefing.
Wu said the “behavior of some radical demonstrators ... is absolutely intolerable” and did not elaborate beyond pointing to the legal passage, the Associated Press reported.
The article stipulates that the Hong Kong government may ask for assistance from Chinese military troops stationed in the city “in the maintenance of public order.”
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