Despite an increasingly violent crackdown on police, mass pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong have entered their tenth consecutive week.
As NGOs and activists warn of excessive use of force by police forces against pro-democracy protesters, China has increasingly threatened to intervene directly in Hong Kong, which could be a reputational and economic risk for a country long recovering from isolation after a bloody crackdown on demonstrations in Hong Kong. Tiananmen 30 years ago, the world media writes.
Tenth week of protests
The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have been going on for ten weeks, the police force is increasingly violent and there are no indications that either side will back down, the newspaper writes. The Guardian (TheGuardian).
Rights groups and democracy activists have accused Hong Kong police of using excessive force in recent days, firing tear gas into a closed subway station after mass arrests by police disguised as protesters. Police also reported injuries among their ranks - eye irritation caused by laser pointers and burns from petrol bombs.
Commenting on videos of police firing tear gas at a subway station in Kwai Fong on Sunday night and non-lethal projectiles in close proximity to protesters trying to escape from the subway, Amnesty International Hong Kong director Man-Kei Tam questioned the use of such force because it seemed, as he says, that the demonstrators were not showing aggression towards the police.
Civil Rights Watch, a local rights group that sends observers to the protests, also points to police violence and the use of police officers disguised as protesters, "who may have acted as agitators before making mass arrests."
Over the weekend, the Guardian adds, journalists were attacked by a group of residents believed to be pro-China supporters. "Violence against journalists, whether by the police or the pro-Beijing mob, has become systematic and is clearly aimed at discouraging the media from covering the protests in Hong Kong," said Cédric Alviani, head of Reporters Without Borders' East Asia bureau. at the same time calling for an independent investigation into the brutality of the protests.
After reports of excessive police force being used over the weekend, several thousand protesters blocked the airport on Monday. Amid the protests, lawmakers and journalists were invited to witness a demonstration of water cannons, which Amnesty warned could cause serious injury if misused inside Hong Kong's closed spaces.
Demonstration of water power
Hong Kong police on Monday demonstrated a water cannon to break up demonstrations in a warning to protesters that authorities are tightening their grip on the violence that has gripped Asia's financial hub for two months, the agency said. Reuters (Reuters).
The police have never used a water cannon before, although two were purchased after pro-democracy protests in 2014, the agency points out. On the occasion of the display of the cannon, Amnesty International announced that it is a powerful weapon with a range of up to 40 meters that can cause serious injuries and even death. But some establishment voices demanded its use, Reuters reported citing a pro-Beijing lawmaker, Yunis Ho, who wrote on his Facebook profile: "You will taste the water cannons! Very fast!".
Increasingly violent demonstrations this summer have plunged the Chinese-ruled territory into its most serious crisis in decades, posing one of the biggest challenges to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. Police have arrested more than 600 people since the unrest began more than two months ago, the agency said.
Protesters say they are fighting the erosion of the "one country, two systems" arrangement that has ensured some autonomy for Hong Kong since Britain returned it to China in 1997. They are demanding the resignation of city manager Carrie Lam and an independent investigation into the treatment of protesters.
Authorities have called the demonstrations illegal and dangerous, underscoring their impact on an already collapsing economy. Also, according to Reuters, Beijing says that criminals and agitators are inciting violence encouraged by the "interference" of foreign powers.
American "black hand" kao excuse
As Hong Kong prepared for the tenth weekend of protests, China, with the help of pro-government media, accused the US of supporting the demonstrations and inciting unrest, and warned of the possibility of direct intervention if the Hong Kong authorities failed to quell the unrest on their own. The Wall Street Journal (The Wall Street Journal).
Late last week, pro-Beijing media published a photo of Julie Edah, head of the political unit of the US Consulate General in Hong Kong, meeting in a hotel lobby with prominent members of the opposition, including 22-year-old Joshua Wong, a key figure in the protests. that rocked Hong Kong five years ago.
Mainland Chinese media reports pointed to the meeting as evidence that America's "black hand" was behind the protests, the New York conservative paper said, citing state broadcaster CCTV as saying on Friday that the Central Intelligence Agency was known for instigating "color revolutions" and refers to the demonstrations that took place in the former Soviet states during the previous decade. Beijing officials also said the unrest in Hong Kong was being labeled a color revolution, the paper said.
Hong Kong activists have dismissed Beijing's accusations of US involvement, saying China's central authorities have a history of shifting blame to foreigners when situations get out of hand, and that such claims are aimed at bolstering China's moral authority in case more drastic action is needed. "Since Beijing is considering draconian measures, they need justification," said Willy Lam, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The government is racing against an Oct. 1 deadline to quell the protests, policy experts say, when Chinese leaders will want to celebrate the 70th anniversary of China's founding without unrest in Hong Kong. How events play out over the next few days could be important after months of unrest in the former British colony, which enjoys limited autonomy under Chinese rule.
Trump's green light
There are more and more signs that something truly terrible is about to happen in Hong Kong. US President Donald Trump essentially gave Chinese rulers the green light to crack down on pro-democracy protests. His inappropriate remarks could have serious consequences, wrote columnist Frida Gitis The Washington Post(The Washington Post).
What the Chinese Communist Party does is, of course, its responsibility, and it will bear responsibility if the Hong Kong crisis ends in bloodshed. But the rest of the world, especially the United States, has an obligation to warn against the slaughter of the innocent and to stand up for the values of free societies.
A reporter asked Trump last week if he was concerned about reports that the Chinese military may be preparing to intervene. The president's response was a call to suppress the protesters, the columnist points out, pointing out that Trump said that it was between China and Hong Kong, and that "something is probably happening with Hong Kong, because when you look, you know, what is happening, they had riots for longer time period".
Trump has completely abandoned any claim to the moral authority of the United States. At a time when hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents bravely took to the streets to defend their rights, the demonstrative lack of interest of the President of the United States is scandalous - and dangerous, the Washington Post assesses.
The citizens of Hong Kong, whose human rights, autonomy and freedom were supposed to be guaranteed until 2047 under the agreement that handed the territory from Great Britain to China, have seen Beijing gradually erode their freedoms. They have been protesting for almost two months now - starting just after the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, when Chinese tanks crushed peaceful protesters demanding democratic reforms. They know all too well the risks they are facing, wrote a Washington newspaper columnist.
Economic risk for China
As China spreads fears of a bloody crackdown on another "Tiananmen" protest, analysts say the potentially disastrous economic and political consequences will deter Beijing from any overt military intervention in Hong Kong, it says. agency France Press (Agence France-Presse).
As clashes between pro-democracy protesters and police in the former British colony grew more violent, Beijing's condemnation grew more ominous, with warnings that those playing with fire would "die from it".
At the same time, the People's Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong released a video showing a counter-insurgency drill in which soldiers with assault rifles, armored personnel carriers and water cannons dispersed a crowd of protesters.
Also, last week, Chinese police released a video of them performing a similar exercise in Shenzhen, on the border with Hong Kong. In both videos, security forces in full riot gear used tear gas and shields to disperse "protesters" dressed in construction hats and masks - reminiscent of protesters in Hong Kong.
However, experts believe that Beijing wants to use the threat of direct intervention to try to intimidate the protesters, but that sending the army to Hong Kong is too much of a reputational and economic risk for China, AFP points out.
China's brutal crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square resulted in two years of economic near-stagnation as the country became an international exile. A fall due to a similar intervention in Hong Kong would be much more severe, the agency assesses, stressing that the long-term stability of the international financial center is crucial for China's economic well-being.
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