A sharp escalation of violence in Hong Kong is again raising the question of how China's central government will respond: Will it intervene, or allow the chaos to persist?
FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2019, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, poses with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam for a photo during a meeting in Shanghai, China. A sharp escalation of violence in Hong Kong has once again raised the question of how China's central government will respond.
The unabating tumult, now in its sixth month, may give China’s ruling Communist Party the justification it needs to take more direct action, analysts said. The Liaison Office described the act of setting the man on fire as “flagrant terrorism,” and pledged support for Hong Kong authorities taking measures to curb “various illegal acts of violence and acts of terrorism.”
A meeting summary from China’s official Xinhua news agency did not elaborate on what this would entail, but Chinese officials have variously pointed to Article 14, Article 18 and Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s de facto constitution. Proposing new national security legislation is likely to further inflame the protests, though China may not be opposed to that, said Joseph Cheng, a pro-democracy advocate and retired City University of Hong Kong political scientist.
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