I'm currently in Hong Kong and have been here since before the protests began. This saber-rattling has been ongoing. This is an escalation, certainly, but it is

I'm currently in Hong Kong and have been here since before the protests began. This saber-rattling has been ongoing. This is an escalation, certainly, but it is not a new message being sent to Hong Kong and it falls mostly on deaf ears. Over the past approximately two months: - July 2019: With the pretense of preparation for the Chinese 70th anniversary celebrations, there were reportedly 190,000 police officers in Zhanjiang. [1] - July 31, 2019: PLA releases a propaganda video showing military practicing riot drills. Notably it has English subtitles implying its target audience. [2] - August 1, 2019: Approximately 12,000 police participated in anti-riot drills in Shenzhen. [3] - August 13, 2019: Military hardware shown moving into Shenzhen. [4] Everybody in Hong Kong already knows that their way of life is lost in the event that China gets involved. The Hongkonger's daily press conference said as much. [5] If either of the PLA or Shenzhen police become involved the outcome is predetermined, thus the relatively nihilistic mood. A local Hongkonger wrote this article for Dissent Magazine which also adds additional color. [6] Responding to other comments, the fears of a Tiananmen Square type incident are likely unfounded given the prevalence of video from all of the ongoing protests. State Media Propaganda does not work when presented to a global audience. Any event of that nature would presumably be one economic gamble too far for the CCP. * [1] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3020784/china-mobilises-190000-police-officers-70th-anniversary https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3020784/chi... [2] https://www.scmp.com/video/hong-kong/3020985/chinese-armys-hong-kong-garrison-releases-video-showing-anti-riot-drills https://www.scmp.com/video/hong-kong/3020985/chinese-armys-h... [3] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3021597/chinese-police-mass-12000-anti-riot-officers-shenzhen-drill https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3021597/chi... [4] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3022479/chinese-armed-police-truck-convoy-rolls-city-near-hong-kong https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3022479/chin... [5] https://twitter.com/anti_elab/status/1161064639515389952 https://twitter.com/anti_elab/status/1161064639515389952 [6] https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/hong-kongs-fight-for-life https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/hong-kongs-f...