Hong Kong’s Occupy protest ‘was an attempt at colour revolution’: PLA general
The Occupy protests were "an orchestrated Hong Kong version of a colour revolution" and Beijing's response should serve as a warning to advocates for Taiwan's independence, according to a senior PLA general.
The Occupy protests were "an orchestrated Hong Kong version of a colour revolution" and Beijing's response should serve as a warning to advocates for Taiwan's independence, according to a senior PLA general.
General Sun Jianguo, a deputy chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, made the comments as he discussed China's national security in an interview with Oriental Outlook, a magazine affiliated with Xinhua. The article was carried by major mainland news portals yesterday.
While a former Beijing top official on Hong Kong affairs, Chen Zuoer , used similar terms to describe the "umbrella movement" at the height of the protests in October, it is rare, if not unprecedented, for such comments to come from military top brass.
Sun had been discussing the important role of competition in Sino-US ties and maritime territorial disputes in the East and South China seas, when he touched on the risk China faced in terms of subversion campaigns by foreign states.
"Hostile forces have always attempted to make Hong Kong the bridgehead for subverting and infiltrating mainland China," Sun said. "The illegal Occupy Central activities in 2014 came as minority radical groups in Hong Kong, under the instigation and support of external forces … orchestrated a Hong Kong version of a colour revolution."
He said the central government had shown firm support for the Hong Kong government in dealing with the protests, and that Beijing's defence of "one country, two systems" should also serve as a warning to Taiwan's pro-independence forces.