Chinese intervention in Hong Kong would be a 'catastrophe', Patten says

[snoop1130]

Chinese intervention in Hong Kong would be a 'catastrophe', Patten says

By Guy Faulconbridge

 

FILE PHOTO: Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten attends an interview in Hong Kong, China September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s last British governor Chris Patten on Tuesday cautioned that if China intervened in Hong Kong it would be a catastrophe and that Chinese President Xi Jinping should see the wisdom of trying to bring people together.

 

Patten said it was counter productive of the Chinese to warn of “other methods” if the protests did not stop.

 

“That would be a catastrophe for China and of course for Hong Kong,” Patten told BBC radio. “Since President Xi has been in office, there’s been a crackdown on dissent and dissidents everywhere, the party has been in control of everything.”

 

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with a guarantee that under a ‘one country, two systems’ mode of governance, the city would retain a high degree of autonomy, an independent judiciary and freedoms not allowed in mainland China.

 

Demonstrations have plunged the Chinese-ruled territory into its most serious crisis in decades, presenting Chinese leader Xi with one of his biggest challenges since he came to power in 2012.

 

Demonstrators say they are fighting the erosion of the “one country, two systems” arrangement.

 

Patten said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson should ask U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton who is in London this week to get Washington to agree that it would be a “catastrophe” if China was to intervene in Hong Kong.

 

“I very much hope that even after 10 weeks of this going on, the government and President Xi will see the sense in establishing a way of actually bringing people together,” Patten said.

 

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the city’s recovery from protests that have swept the Asian financial hub could take a long time and that she would be responsible for rebuilding its economy “after the violence eases”.

 

Her comments followed serious developments in the growing crisis over the past week. Beijing said on Monday the protests had begun to show “sprouts of terrorism” and the city’s airport was closed.

 

“There is a degree of frustration and anger at the government refusing to give any sensible ground at all which probably provokes more violence,” Patten said.

 

“I can’t believe that any rational person in Carrie Lam’s position would actually argue the case against a commission of inquiry,” he said.

 

“What’s clearly needed is a process of reconciliation. It’s the only way I think you’ll put a cap on this and get back to peace and stability in Hong Kong.”

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-13

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[observer90210]

Ouch !...unleashing hoardes of chinese military chaps with weapons and tanks will be a disaster in the streets of Hong Kong....those boys are trained to shoot first and then think and look ...

[olfu]

Lets see--

China--dictatorship,

Hong Kong-- dictatorship,

US--dictatorship,

Russia--dictatorship...

etc---why the noise?

[Mavideol]

26 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with a guarantee that under a ‘one country, two systems’ mode of governance, the city would retain a high degree of autonomy, an independent judiciary and freedoms not allowed in mainland China.

should retain high degree of autonomy for 50 years that was signed by him and his chinese counterpart, unfortunately the chinese gov don't want to respect the agreement....

[sqwakvfr]

In a video obtained and released by Chinese state-owned media website Global Times, dozens of military trucks and over a dozen Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) can be seen assembling in Shenzhen — less than 30km from Hong Kong — for military 'exercises'.

 

This was yesterday.  Just an exercise?  Chinese Government has already used the word “Terror” in reference to the Hong Kong Protesters.  I think a midnight airborne assault into Hong Kong with a column of Armored Vehicles rolling in might be in the works?  The People’s Republic is not used to dissent.  I recall a certain event 30 years ago that did not end well..  

[30la]

You and your American cousins have the right to intervene in every conflict in the world, all other nations have no right to intervene within their borders!
What is this morality?

[30la]

14 hours ago, olfu said:

Lets see--

China--dictatorship,

Hong Kong-- dictatorship,

US--dictatorship,

Russia--dictatorship...

etc---why the noise?

We always talk about dictatorship, who can give me an example of a country where there is no dictatorship?
All religions, governments and global companies are based on a dictatorial system.

[Geoffggi]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“I can’t believe that any rational person in Carrie Lam’s position would actually argue the case against a commission of inquiry,” he said.

 

“What’s clearly needed is a process of reconciliation. It’s the only way I think you’ll put a cap on this and get back to peace and stability in Hong Kong.”

And Carrie knows herself that the people don't want he so why keep banging her head against the wall, swallow your pride Carrie and go....

[ballpoint]

This man should be the UK PM.

[Chomper Higgot]

23 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

This man should be the UK PM.

There was a time when he might well have been, but John Major sent him to Hong Kong to neutralise the threat he was to Major’s tenure at No 10.

[stevenl]

I'm sure the development of Hong Kong these last years has not been what he envisioned. Still, a crackdown on the protests seems imminent, whether Patten thinks it is a good idea yes or no. I also don't see the 'catastrophe that Patten mentions, it would simply mean that Hong Kong accelerates in the direction it has been headed already: part of China, no special status.

[evadgib]

If this kicks off UK will have a headache re how to protect BNO's

[Brickbat]

Says the Clown that was in charge of Interfering while he was Governor of a land that did not belong to the British 

[evadgib]

16 minutes ago, Brickbat said:

Says the Clown that was in charge of Interfering while he was Governor of a land that did not belong to the British 

...but was nonetheless leased to them throughout his tenure.

[ExpatOilWorker]

The Chinese are really between a rock and a hard place with the protesters in HK.

If they send in the military or even paramilitary forces, there will be casualties and it will leave a very dark shadow over the long planned October 1st 70 years celebration in Beijing. On top of that HK could lose its special banking rights. 

Beijing better study what happened to Russia after the Crimea invasion. Sanctions are easy tools for western politician to apply.

The most logic solution would appear to let Carrie Lam step down.

It is a new show of weakness that Xi distance himself from current events and never make any public announcements. 

Just like the old Soviet Union, the Chinese press are feeding the masses with lies about the protesters.

 

 

[bristolboy]

1 minute ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

The Chinese are really between a rock and a hard place with the protesters in HK.

If they send in the military or even paramilitary forces, there will be casualties and it will leave a very dark shadow over the long planned October 1st 70 years celebration in Beijing. On top of that HK could lose its special banking rights. 

Beijing better study what happened to Russia after the Crimea invasion. Sanctions are easy tools for western politician to apply.

The most logic solution would appear to let Carrie Lam step down.

It is a new show of weakness that Xi distance himself from current events and never make any public announcements. 

Just like the old Soviet Union, the Chinese press are feeding the masses with lies about the protesters.

 

 

A lot less stress to the world economy when sanctions are imposed on a nation if its exports consist mostly of natural resources. China's economy is woven into industrial supply chains around the world. Even Trump now is, in effect, acknowledging that.

[Scott]

Off-topic post reported and removed.

 

[champers]

1 hour ago, Geoffggi said:

And Carrie knows herself that the people don't want he so why keep banging her head against the wall, swallow your pride Carrie and go....

She has offered to resign but her masters in Beijing won't accept her resignation. She is in till the bitter end, like it or not.

[baansgr]

RIP HK.....sad for anyone there pre 97

[ExpatOilWorker]

16 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

In a video obtained and released by Chinese state-owned media website Global Times, dozens of military trucks and over a dozen Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) can be seen assembling in Shenzhen — less than 30km from Hong Kong — for military 'exercises'.

 

This was yesterday.  Just an exercise?  Chinese Government has already used the word “Terror” in reference to the Hong Kong Protesters.  I think a midnight airborne assault into Hong Kong with a column of Armored Vehicles rolling in might be in the works?  The People’s Republic is not used to dissent.  I recall a certain event 30 years ago that did not end well..  

Below are a few comments of the video. Pretty pathetic propaganda from the CCP.

 

Apparently the character on the gate where the cars come out is Fujian(福建）southeast China, while Shenzhen is southwest China. Please do not post fake news to fool those who cannot read Chinese.

 

LOL, calm down, It’s NOT footages of military on route to Shenzhen. It’s in Fujian province, 750km away. Looks more like typhoon flood crisis support. Notice all the amphibious vehicles. It’s not for riots control. Sorry to disappoint some folks.

 

[chainarong]

It would be indeed a disaster for China , it would force the democracy group underground and from then on the bombs will start going off hatred will prevail  for decades

[bristolboy]

7 minutes ago, chainarong said:

It would be indeed a disaster for China , it would force the democracy group underground and from then on the bombs will start going off hatred will prevail  for decades

Doubt it would be a disaster for China. It's not a nation governed by the rule of law. There is no independent judicial system to stop the Chinese government from being as ruthless as it wants to be in suppressing the opposition.

[Rimmer]

A post with a forbidden torrent link has been removed

[Pedrogaz]

What does the US do with violent protesters? What does Israel do with stone throwing Palestinians....they shoot them and use excessive force. Why wouldn't China do the same?

China has a duty to the 1.5 billion Chinese living in China proper....it cannot let CIA inspired mob violence infect the mainland. China has been successful because it is stable. US policy is, like everywhere else, to cause chaos and destabilise. Think Iraq, Ukraine, Venezuela, Syria, Libya...these protests did not happen by accident....trained, armed and funded mercenaries imported from foreign countries did not just appear in Syria spontaneously, there was a plan behind it...

This is the same in China where US funded NGOs cause mischief by encouraging insurrection. China needs to use maximum force to maintain stability, even if it means another Tianamen.

[Benmart]

17 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Ouch !...unleashing hoardes of chinese military chaps with weapons and tanks will be a disaster in the streets of Hong Kong....those boys are trained to shoot first and then think and look ...

I don't know how Chinese soldiers think or how they would act as that would be looking into the future. What I do know is that I am not a Chinese soldier and don't know anyone that is. I served in another army for 20 years and am still unable to figure out what could happen. I guess I will just wait and see.

[stevenl]

18 minutes ago, vinniekintana said:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-13/beijing-refuses-american-warships-entry-hong-kong-ports

Of course.

 

A request like this at this time was sure to be rejected.

[wwest5829]

17 hours ago, olfu said:

Lets see--

China--dictatorship,

Hong Kong-- dictatorship,

US--dictatorship,

Russia--dictatorship...

etc---why the noise?

Cute but some of us see a bit of difference ... so do the people of Hong Kong ...

[ChouDoufu]

17 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

In a video obtained and released by Chinese state-owned media website Global Times, dozens of military trucks and over a dozen Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) can be seen assembling in Shenzhen — less than 30km from Hong Kong — for military 'exercises'.

 

This was yesterday.  Just an exercise?  Chinese Government has already used the word “Terror” in reference to the Hong Kong Protesters.  I think a midnight airborne assault into Hong Kong with a column of Armored Vehicles rolling in might be in the works?  The People’s Republic is not used to dissent.  I recall a certain event 30 years ago that did not end well..  

there is an annual police training exercise in shenzhen about this time every year.  plus last week there was a graduation ceremony in shenzhen for 20k police officers.

 

china already has a 6000-man pla force stationed in hong kong.

[wwest5829]

25 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

What does the US do with violent protesters? What does Israel do with stone throwing Palestinians....they shoot them and use excessive force. Why wouldn't China do the same?

China has a duty to the 1.5 billion Chinese living in China proper....it cannot let CIA inspired mob violence infect the mainland. China has been successful because it is stable. US policy is, like everywhere else, to cause chaos and destabilise. Think Iraq, Ukraine, Venezuela, Syria, Libya...these protests did not happen by accident....trained, armed and funded mercenaries imported from foreign countries did not just appear in Syria spontaneously, there was a plan behind it...

This is the same in China where US funded NGOs cause mischief by encouraging insurrection. China needs to use maximum force to maintain stability, even if it means another Tianamen.

Yes, and only Russia is the cause of US political disintegration. And it was only outside interference that caused the US Civil Rights protests and the Vietnam War protests. That is what I understand from your post. As such, it is overreaching. Is there continuous evidence of the international mischief fomenting unrest and the outright overthrow of governments? Absolutely, but you seem to be ignoring valid citizen uprisings even if those uprisings play into the hands of others, "national interests".

[Mavideol]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

The Chinese are really between a rock and a hard place with the protesters in HK.

If they send in the military or even paramilitary forces, there will be casualties and it will leave a very dark shadow over the long planned October 1st 70 years celebration in Beijing. On top of that HK could lose its special banking rights. 

Beijing better study what happened to Russia after the Crimea invasion. Sanctions are easy tools for western politician to apply.

The most logic solution would appear to let Carrie Lam step down.

It is a new show of weakness that Xi distance himself from current events and never make any public announcements. 

Just like the old Soviet Union, the Chinese press are feeding the masses with lies about the protesters.

 

 

correct, yesterday an undercover chinese police guy was caught but china claims it's the westerns influence, in case some start to question the validity, my friend is currently there reporting, saw it, same last week or 2 weeks ago when the white shirts (unmasked, thus easy to identify and protected by the HK police) attacked the demonstrators,  all white shirts from china mainland infiltrated the demonstration to create trouble allowing china to claim "acts of terrorism" and by doing so they have the perfect excuse to go in and now backed by the local UN office whom has no balls to contradict them