Beijing unlikely to intervene in Hong Kong but police under pressure to end protests, analysts say
- Central government’s warning about ‘signs of terrorism’ in escalating violence ‘provides cover for local authorities to continue on path they are on’
- Unless the city asks for help, Beijing is bound by law and cannot step in
Beijing is unlikely to directly intervene in Hong Kong, but pressure is mounting on the city’s police to put an immediate end to months of anti-government protests, according to analysts.
Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) under the State Council, also called on the city’s police to end “violent criminal activity” by demonstrators “with no hesitation or mercy”.
China amended its counterterrorism law in 2016 to broaden the definition of terrorist activities, but the law is not applicable to Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” arrangement. The city, meanwhile, does not have its own law on national security.
Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said he had not seen “any evidence of terrorism of the sort I would usually look at within the context of the protests in Hong Kong”.