Be careful, Hong Kong protesters – as demonstrations escalate, so do Beijing’s military exercises and ‘colour revolution’ talk

Demonstrators should communicate that this is an internal matter for Hong Kong, consistent with national rejuvenation

Otherwise, Beijing may make good on the implications of its PLA exercises and ‘colour revolution’ talk

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Members of the People’s Liberation Army honour guards march for the flag-raising ceremony during an open day, at the Hong Kong garrison’s naval base on Stonecutters Island on June 30. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00am, 2 Sep 2019Updated: 9:11am, 2 Sep 2019

Hong Kong will have to endure more of the protest-ridden heat as the unrest continues beyond summer. And it’s going to heat up indeed. So the question remains: since the Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor administration is unable to take any sort of meaningful action, how long before Beijing runs out of patience? There has certainly been a concerted effort to send this city some pretty harsh messages.

Beijing is increasingly responding by showcasing its military force. It began with the Hong Kong garrison of the People’s Liberation Army celebrating the Chinese military’s 92nd anniversary in early August with its not-too-subtle three-minute promotion video featuring anti-riot exercises.

That was coupled with the release of footage of a massive mainland police officers’ drill in Shenzhen that included riot police taking on people clad in black, complete with yellow helmets. And last week, state media made a show of the PLA Hong Kong garrison’s annual rotation – something that has, in the past, been done very discreetly, and treated very quietly by the state media.

This 22nd rotation was accompanied by very specific messages: that the troops have “grasped the ability to defend Hong Kong” and, being committed to the leadership of the Communist Party and the Central Military Commission, they are “determined to resolutely protect national sovereignty, security and development interests … [and will] effectively carry out the duty of defending Hong Kong and perform more new contributions to maintaining the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong”.

Whatever these “new contributions” are, are of course left to our imagination.

Roundtable lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun recently said that, according to his sources, Beijing has set an early September “deadline” for Hong Kong to calm down, so as not to let the unrest affect National Day celebrations.

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