China has a serious problem here. Hong Kong's importance to China goes beyond its GDP contribution. Hong Kong is still a major global financial center. If all the major foreign financial players were to begin to bail due to the unrest, it would be a blow to China. Hong Kong residents prior to 1997 were British subjects, not citizens so they did not have the recourse to leave Hong Kong and go to the UK. So they are stuck then and now in Hong Kong. there were some exceptions but they did not apply to the vast majority. So they become the most dangerous of all .. nothing to lose and everything to gain.
then there is the impact of this in China. China can suppress social media all they want. Throw the switch and cut off internet and cell access. People already know what is happening in Hong Kong. there is the real chance it will escalate, even without outside media access. if that happens, China gets put into a difficult position. how do they suppress Tienanmen Square x 10? deploy the Army all over China with orders to stop mass protests by any means necessary? probably the worst thing they could do. like throwing a nuclear bomb on a raging wildfire. it is possible this could end Communist control of China. it will happen some day. is that day getting closer?
Tear gas fired as Hong Kong police, protesters clash
https://news.yahoo.com/tension-spike...074640588.html
AFP •August 24, 2019
Tension rippled across Saturday's march, where a number of frontline radical demonstrators known as 'braves' had gathered (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)
Hong Kong riot cops fired tear gas and baton-charged protesters who retaliated with a barrage of stones, bottles and bamboo poles on Saturday, as a standoff in a working-class neighbourhood descended into violence, breaking an uneasy peace that had lasted several days.
Earlier thousands of demonstrators, many wearing hard hats and gas masks, marched through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of riot police with shields and batons outside a police station.
Frontline protesters -- known as "braves" -- pulled together a barricade of traffic barriers and bamboo construction poles. As the afternoon wore on some fired stones from slingshots, prompting a charge from police, wielding batons and pepper spray.
Tears gas swept across the road as protesters retreated, leaving a trail of broken bottles and at least one small fire in their wake.
Several of the black-clad protesters were detained as officers swept through.
Hong Kong's police force have become the target of the protesters' ire for their perceived heavy-handed response to the months of demonstrations.
Antipathy has soared towards the police, who have used baton charges, rubber bullets and tear gas against hardcore protesters, but are also accused of beating peaceful demonstrators.
The city had appeared to have pulled back from a nosedive into violence, with the last serious clashes taking place a week and a half ago just after the city's airport was paralysed by demonstrators.
But tension rippled across Saturday's march, where a number of frontline radical demonstrators known as "braves" had gathered.
"I understand being peaceful will not solve the problem," 19-year-old student protester Ryan told AFP, giving one name.
"The government won’t respond to peaceful protest. If I am arrested it is because I come out to speak for justice."
Police chased hundreds of protesters, holding a line underneath a bridge but threatening a new charge.
"I've never seen Hong Kong in such a situation," 65-year-old Dee Cheung told AFP earlier, before explaining why he joined the protests.
"The youngsters who come out have put their future at stake... they are doing this for Hong Kong.
"There might be some things we don't agree with, like the 'braves' who tend to charge. But let's think about why they do that?"
Protests started against a proposed law that would have allowed extradition to China, but have bled into wider calls for democracy and police accountability in the semi-autonomous city.
Tear gas fired as Hong Kong police, protesters clash
