The Wall Street Journal - 16.08.2019

A6| Friday, August 16, 2019 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

racked by some of the most ex-

treme violence seen during the

monthslong protests gripping

the wealthy Chinese territory.

Any type of military re-

sponse would mark a dramatic

escalation in the already-frag-

ile situation in Hong Kong and

risk fundamentally undermin-

ing the “high degree of auton-

omy” that Beijing promised

the city for 50 years after its

return to China in 1997, and

which sustains the city’s role

as a financial center.

At a minimum, any inter-

vention would stir memories of

the military’s brutal crackdown

around Beijing’s Tiananmen

Square in June 1989 that left

hundreds dead and cemented

the government’s reputation

for intolerance to dissent.

Strict rules govern when

Chinese forces can enter the

territory, though it is unclear

how they would apply to the

paramilitary forces; Hong

Kong’s government has said it

hasn’t requested any interven-

tion, a legal prerequisite for

mainland involvement.

Senior Hong Kong police of-

ficials said Wednesday they

the “Chinese Government is

moving troops to the Border

with Hong Kong.”

The Chinese government’s

liaison office in Hong Kong

couldn’t be reached to com-

ment Thursday but has said it

supports the Hong Kong gov-

ernment and police in punish-

ing violent criminals according

to the law.

Hong Kong already hosts a

6,000-strong garrison of the

People’s Liberation Army, the

armed forces of China’s ruling

Communist Party, but is un-

likely to deploy it for fear of

doing deeper damage to Hong

Kong’s international business

links and to the image of Pres-

ident Xi, according to Willy

Lam, a senior fellow at the

Washington-based Jamestown

Foundation.

Even so, Mr. Lam added,

the repeated use by Beijing of

the word “terrorism” in rela-

tion to the protests “looks like

laying down the justification

for using Chinese forces,” such

as the paramilitary.

—Wenxin Fan

and Natasha Khan

contributed to this article.

BEIJING—China renewed

its vow to retaliate against

U.S. tariffs set to be imposed

in coming weeks, despite Pres-

ident Trump’s decision to de-

lay implementing some of the

levies, but expressed hope the

two countries would reach a

resolution to the trade fight.

On Thursday, the State

Council’s Customs Tariff Com-

mission said the U.S. proposal

on Aug. 1 to levy new tariffs

on $300 billion in goods “se-

verely violated” a consensus

reached between Mr. Trump

and Chinese President Xi Jin-

ping during meetings this past

year in Argentina and Japan.

The threatened new tariffs

by the U.S. “deviated from the

right track of resolving differ-

ences through dialogue,” an

unidentified official was

quoted as saying by the com-

mission. “China would have no

choice but to take necessary

countermeasures.”

A separate remark from

China’s Ministry of Foreign Af-

fairs expressed hope the two

countries could reach an ac-

ceptable solution.

“We hope the U.S. can work

in concert with China to im-

plement the two presidents’

consensus that was reached in

Osaka, and to work out a mu-

tually acceptable solution

through equal-footed dialogue

and consultation with mutual

respect,” the foreign minis-

try’s spokeswoman, Hua Chu-

nying, said in a statement.

On Aug. 1, Mr. Trump said

on Twitter that he would im-

pose on Sept. 1 a 10% levy on

roughly $300 billion in Chi-

nese goods.

On Tuesday, the Trump ad-

ministration postponed plans

to impose tariffs on roughly

half of the $300 billion in

goods to Dec. 15 from the orig-

inal Sept. 1 date.

—Lin Zhu, Yoko Kubota

and Chun Han Wong

Beijing

Again Vows

U.S. Tariff

Retaliation

WORLD NEWS

SHENZHEN, China—In re-
cent days, thousands of young
paramilitary police have
moved into a sports stadium
in a residential district of this
southern Chinese border
city—a show of force to a res-
tive Hong Kong less than 5
miles away.
According to local resi-
dents, units of China’s People’s
Armed Police—a paramilitary
force trained to contain do-
mestic disturbances like ri-
ots—have been arriving by the
truckload at the futuristic bay-
side stadium, capacity 20,000,
where they have been living
and training in recent days.
The young police, some in
camouflage fatigues and oth-
ers in T-shirts and shorts, are
easily visible in the stadium
passageways, while their
sound-offs in unison echo
around a busy sports complex
ringed by soccer pitches and
nursery schools.
Widespread media coverage
in China over the past few
days has stirred fears in Hong
Kong that mainland authori-
ties are considering a military-
type action, though unusual
levels of publicity about the
deployment in the country’s
tightly scripted media may
also mean the effort is primar-
ily about escalating already
stark signals that Beijing is se-
riously concerned about the
situation in Hong Kong.
President Trump said
Thursday he was confident
China could “humanely solve
the problem in Hong Kong,”
adding he was scheduled to
speak soon with Chinese Presi-
dent Xi Jinping.
The Shenzhen Bay Sports
Center where the police are
stationed sits just across the
water from Yuen Long and Tin
Shui Wai, Hong Kong neigh-
borhoods that have been

BYJAMEST.AREDDY

China Police Gather by Hong Kong

Thousands of Beijing

paramilitary personnel

make show of force

across bay from city

Chinese military vehicles were parked Thursday on the grounds of Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, across the water from Hong Kong.

THOMAS PETER/REUTERS

could manage the protests on

their own, denying any knowl-

edge of a need for further re-

inforcements.

On Monday, Chinese state

media posted video clips on

social media of military vehi-

cles rolling through Shenzhen,

part of what it described as a

series of large-scale drills.

Mr. Trump has raised the

possibility of military inter-

vention by Beijing, including a

tweet Tuesday warning that

Source: Google Maps

HONG KONG

ISLAND

LANTAU

ISLAND

Central

Government

Complex

Hong Kong

International

Airport

Shenzhen Bay

Sports Center

HONG KONG

MAINLAND

CHINA

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