The People’s Liberation Army is said to be weighing a proposal to rip up guidelines to stay low-key and instead allow its troops stationed across a dozen of barracks in Hong Kong to be seen not just during camp open days but also in the streets of the former British colony in their PLA uniforms.
It has been reported that the force’s garrison in Hong Kong is considering whether to let soldiers wear their uniforms in public, as opposed to the current rules that mandate all personnel to be in civvies on occasions when they step outside their barracks, to avoid “evoking misinterpretation” when they rub shoulders with members of the Hong Kong public who are still not enamored with having Chinese troops in their streets.
PLA troops descended upon Hong Kong after it was handed back to China by the UK in 1997, and the size and armor of the new garrison in the special administrative region have become more than what is needed for as a symbol of Beijing’s restored sovereignty: Headcount has swelled to more than 6,000 soldiers over the years, along with more frequent drills and exercises held throughout the city.
“There’s been no decision so far [about allowing soldiers to go outside in their uniforms] but many are hoping for such a change,” the South China Morning Post quoted a source as saying, who added that wearing the uniform outside camps would be an honor and encourage good behavior.
But Hong Kong residents and members of the democratic camp are wondering if Beijing is going to abandon all the veneer of military non-intervention and dispatch uniformed PLA troops to patrol the city, despite the mainland pledging 50 years of no change to Hong Kong’s systems and institutions since 1997.
On paper, that shouldn’t be a worry, as neither the Basic Law enacted as Hong Kong’s constitutional document post-1997 or the law governing the garrisoning of Chinese troops has stipulated that the PLA has jurisdiction in the city, except in the event of a serious riot or anarchy endangering Hong Kong’s and China’s state security that necessitates troops being called out to maintain or restore order.
Disorder on that scale has never been seen in the more than 20 years of the post-handover era, and is unlikely to be seen in the foreseeable future. And so far the bulk of PLA troops, all meticulously selected from their peers, have been confined by internal rules to their barracks throughout their deployment in the city.
Nonetheless, there have been fresh concerns that releasing uniformed PLA soldiers from their camps could also mean expanding the jurisdiction of the military police – who monitor discipline in the armed forces but have no authority over the general public – from within the barracks to the wider Hong Kong.
The latest development is against a broader backdrop: Hong Kong is seeing a rise in localist groups – mainly founded by young people born after the handover – who demand that the future of the city be determined by its residents, or even total severance of ties with the mainland to go independent.
Some observers blame the stalled democratization after 1997 and local authorities’ many failures in alleviating housing and social-mobility woes for the emergence of these belligerent yet still marginal thoughts among youth.
The PLA garrison has also responded to these trends both symbolically – hanging a giant red-star-pentagon emblem atop its headquarters building in Central that shines above the city’s iconic Victoria Harbor at night – and in action by mounting a slew of large-scale drills and maneuvers to flex its muscles.
Reports and photos over the years have revealed that PLA sailors leveled guns at buildings in the city’s financial districts in some exercises while squadrons of attack helicopters flew above for reconnaissance and mock attacks. In other cases, anti-riot drills have been held at multiple barracks by soldiers kitted out with riot shields and pepper spray who familiarize themselves with a setting resembling streets in the city to track down rioters and separatists.
LoL, it is China’s right to have troops in her territory. The author of this article doesn’t even have any common sense. Why don’t you criticize us regime having not only troops on its own soil but also around the globe, in sovereign countries?
According to the author : Hong Kong is seeing a rise in localist groups – mainly founded by young people born after the handover – who demand that the future of the city be determined by its residents, or even total severance of ties with the mainland to go independent.
So Hong Kong should be ruled by teenagers?
Show the flag, give them visible signs they are under the Beijing Boot. Still, I wonder if that might invite some retribution to lone soldiers in dark allys?
Show the flag, give them visible signs they are under the Beijing Boot. Still, I wonder if that might invite some retribution to lone soldiers in dark allys?
WuKong Sun What a purile point of view! People who acutally care about where they live are usually well educated and idealistic. Whatever other problems they have, they are not misfits unless you consider normal as being Beijing instructed robots?
WuKong Sun What a purile point of view! People who acutally care about where they live are usually well educated and idealistic. Whatever other problems they have, they are not misfits unless you consider normal as being Beijing instructed robots?
Always crying Lawrence? Move on from what happened long before you were born and look to the future.Why keep on and on and on about what happened for a very brief time in history as if that was enough to change things forever. It obviously did not change a thing, except to bring to China some modern improvements, like electriciy, gas, public transport, telephone and railways.
Stop looking backwards and instead look to where you should be going.
Always crying Lawrence? Move on from what happened long before you were born and look to the future.Why keep on and on and on about what happened for a very brief time in history as if that was enough to change things forever. It obviously did not change a thing, except to bring to China some modern improvements, like electriciy, gas, public transport, telephone and railways.
Stop looking backwards and instead look to where you should be going.