China military video suggests another Tianamen in making in Hong Kong

In a message to Hong Kong protestors, China’s military issued a video threatening invasion of the territory.

The video shows the People’s Liberation Army tactics and power with grenade launchers and aggressive force used against targets.

The Guardian in London says it is a Chinese military propaganda video released amid the protests in Hong Kong.

The paper says this is how the military finally broke its silence against the unrelenting protests crippling the Island territory.

<<Speaking for the first time, the PLA chief gave firm support to Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam.>>

The support extends to the police force.

However, facing a devastating trade war with the US, China is under pressure to act on Hong Kong.

The protests split China on its move in Hong Kong. Either stepping in with the army to put an end to protests or let Hong Kong resolve the issue internally.

But with unending protests and increasing violence now involving triads and gun taunting police, Beijing may act impulsively.

Nevertheless, people are asking whether another Tiananmen Square massacre is in the making?

The dramatic video, released at a reception where the military chief spoke on the protests, speaks a volume.

It showcases anti-riot drills where ranks of marching soldiers holding riot shields advance firing on fleeing “citizens”.

<<The scene included footage of tanks rolling in, water cannon being used, and “handcuffed” citizens being led away.>>

Shouting in Cantonese, the language spoken in Hong Kong rather than mainland China, a soldier shouts, “All consequences are at your own risk.”

TIANANMEN
Thirty years ago, Beijing’s Tiananmen Square became the theatre of a massacre following large-scale protests. The army crushed the protests.

In 1989, the Chinese government sent tanks into the square then occupied by the protestors. The army shot at unarmed civilians, mostly students. It was an abrupt end to reforms in the country.

From then on, protests are taboo in China. The people fear the tanks and the military bullets.

For instance, in Hong Kong, the situation is different. The territory has its political system and does not abide by communist rule.

It is part of an agreement between the UK and China after London relinquished its grip on the territory in 1997.

China is preparing its case against the protestors in Hong Kong. It starts with former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa accusing the US and Taiwan of orchestrating ‘well-organised’ recent protests.

Tung says “foreign politicians and anti-China forces with ulterior motives” were working “to incite the fear of the people of Hong Kong and undermine the relationship between the mainland and Hong Kong”.

<<Video shows army attacking a city, shooting on citizens and capturing protestors>>

In addition, he warns Hong Kong people against “being used. Now, this video is out showing Beijing’s intent.

The protest is now into eight weeks and is not ending despite appeals by the pro-China ruling class.

MURDER IN TAIWAN

In June, tens of thousands of demonstrators in Hong Kong surrounded the city’s legislature. They protested against an extradition bill that would allow Hong Kong to send people to mainland China for trial.

Hong Kong drafted the bill after a murder case in Taiwan.

A 20-year-old woman went on holiday with her boyfriend, 19, to Taiwan, But she never returned but he came back.

Taiwan police were alerted and the woman’s body was found in bushes near a subway station near Taipei.

Taiwan police want him extradited but Hong Kong’s laws do not allow for the extradition. The case exposed a loophole in the current system and it brought the extradition bill into the picture.

Hong Kong’s scrapping the bill did not stop protests, which is taking a new turn, with a bigger toll on shops and the economy.