Protests in Special Administrative Region: China threatens military operation in Hong Kong

Since June, protesters in Honkong have been taking to the streets against the influence of the Chinese government. Another weekend of protests, China has once again increased pressure on the Special Administrative Region: Announced demonstrations have been banned, and well-known activist Joshua Wong and two other civil rights activists have been arrested.

The state newspaper China Daily warned in an editorial before escalating the situation. Should it come to that, the Chinese soldiers stationed in the Special Administrative Region "would have no reason to idly watch," the authors wrote. The presence of the Chinese military was "not purely symbolic." On Thursday, the leadership in Beijing announced an exchange of domestic forces in Hong Kong and spoke of a routine move.

The state news agency Xinhua had shown pictures of armored vehicles crossing the border into the Chinese Special Administrative Region in the dark. In recent weeks there have been several concerns that Beijing could intervene militarily in the conflict. According to state media, since the return of the former Crown Colony in 1997, it was the 22nd time that Chinese troops were rotating in Hong Kong.

Yuan Junmin / Xinhua / AP

Force Demonstration in Honkong: China is making troops spin. Supposedly out of routine

Following the ban on the mass demonstration, the organizers of the Civil Human Rights Front have canceled the original protests planned for Saturday. The protest of the protest against the ban had been rejected, said the co-organizer Bonnie Leung. Therefore, there is no alternative but to cancel the march to represent the Chinese government in the financial metropolis.

One does not want to endanger potential participants, said Leung. By canceling, the Alliance wants to ensure that nobody has to bear the legal consequences of participating.

Three prominent activists arrested

On Friday morning, civil rights activist Joshua Wong and his associate Agnes Chow were arrested in the Chinese Special Administrative Region. Already on Thursday evening the leader of the forbidden independence party Hong Kong national party, Andy Chan, was seized at the airport of the metropolis of millions, from where he wanted to fly to Japan.

Wong had recently been released from custody. The 22-year-old former student leader was charged with two months behind bars in 2014 because of his role in the "umbrella" movement. Because of good leadership, he had been released early.

Since June 9, there have been protests in Hong Kong, often resulting in clashes between a small section of the protesters and the police. The protest movement fears growing influence of the Chinese government on the Special Administrative Region. The demonstrators also demand an independent investigation of police violence during the protests. It was only on Wednesday that thousands of protesters took to the streets again.