With the Hong Kong Police stretched to breaking point, there has long been speculation that the Chinese communist regime may set the People’s Liberation Army loose on Hong Kong streets to restore law and order. Gordon Arthur examines the forces of the Hong Kong Garrison.
Hong Kong has been in disarray since the government ill-advisedly tried to pass a criminal-extradition bill that would have allowed the handover of citizens to mainland China. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps up to two million, Hong Kong residents took to the streets last June to express their frustration with the territory’s Beijing-appointed leadership, and protests have subsequently become increasingly violent.
Fortunately, the communist regime has not deployed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces in Hong Kong and it seems certain the risk of such a mobilisation devolving into a ‘Tiananmen Square 2.0’ scenario means it would represent a desperate last gambit for President Xi Jinping. Nevertheless, the Hong Kong Garrison of the PLA is on high readiness levels and is prepared to intervene, a threat made perfectly clear during the annual rotation of the garrison’s troops and equipment last August 28. The official Chinese state-run Xi…
