China/Hong Kong: Closing in on China’s 70th national day on October 1st, the tensions in Hong Kong are not easing. Typically, being a day of peaceful protests in Hong Kong in previous years, the potential of the protests escalating even further this year is higher than before. Nearly doubling the number of troops they have in Hong Kong in the past weeks, the Chinese government continues to use force on the Hong Kong protesters. Starting Sunday morning, peaceful protests quickly turned violent as police and rioters clashed in the streets forcing police to use water cannons against the citizens. Many citizens in Hong Kong do not associate themselves with China and do not feel that October 1st is their National Day. Hong Kong is supposed to be seen as neutral ground, not falling entirely under the Communist rule that mainland China abides by. At the beginning of the protests, Chinese government officials began calling the protests acts of terrorism, which by law in Hong Kong, is handled by the Chinese government. Because of this law, China moved military troops into Hong Kong, which only escalated the protests. Now, by almost doubling its troops in Hong Kong in recent weeks, it appears that China is beginning to control the entire Hong Kong area. At this point, there is no indication that the protests will stop.
Analyst Notes
China is using this situation as a way to prove that they need to be in control of Hong Kong, but as long as China continues growing their military presence in Hong Kong, it is likely that the protests will continue as well as grow beyond Hong Kong. Although there has been a relatively small online presence surrounding the protests, it is possible that because of National Day and the growing military presence in Hong Kong that more people will take to cyber-space in response to the situation.
