Page ^ Daily Mail, Friday, August 16, 2019
Show of strength: Chinese
army trucks and troops
near the Hong Kong borderalso bolstering troop numbers at
its base inside Hong Kong in Kow-
loon. Amid fears the crisis is esca-
lating, the Foreign Office has
reportedly sent a ‘crisis team’ to
the semi-autonomous Chinese
city. The HMS Defender – a
Type 45 destroyer – is in the region
and could be called upon to help
the 30,000 British citizens in
Hong Kong.
The prospect of military action
against civilians has many recall-
ing the suppression of demonstra-
tors in Tiananmen Square in 1989
when hundreds – and possibly
thousands – were killed in Beijing.
Yesterday, the Adam Smith Insti-
tute think-tank called for Hong
Kong residents to be given British
citizenship rights. The institutesaid the UK had a duty under the
Sino-British Joint Declaration to
uphold the rights of Hong Kong
citizens until 2047.
It said that while the UK cannot
act within the territory of Hong
Kong, it can still act to maintain
and enhance the rights of Hong
Kong citizens within the territory
of the UK.
Matthew Kilcoyne, from the
institute, said: ‘Britain has a duty
to uphold the rights of the citizens
of Hong Kong in the face of exces-
sive force being used toward pro-
testers and laws that infringe on
the autonomy of the city.
‘While the UK is far away, the
country has a special link to these
islands, and it has a responsibility
and the ability to offer a homeaway from Hong Kong should the
need arise.’
French foreign minister Jean-
Yves Le Drian called on Hong Kong
authorities to renew talks with
protesters to find a peaceful solu-
tion, while Canadian prime minis-
ter Justin Trudeau urged China to
handle the protests with tact.
Donald Trump called for a ‘quick
and humane’ end to the crisis,
tweeting: ‘I know President Xi of
China very well. He is a great
leader who very much has the
respect of his people. He is also a
good man in a tough business.
‘I have zero doubt that if Presi-
dent Xi wants to quickly and
humanely solve the Hong Kong
problem, he can do it.’
But US national security adviser
John Bolton said: ‘The Chinese
have to look very carefully at the
steps they take because people in
America remember Tiananmen
Square – they remember the pic-
ture of the man standing in front
of the line of tanks.
‘It would be a big mistake to cre-
ate a new memory like that.’Gibraltar sets
Iran’s tanker
free – despite
Trump’s pleas
AN IRANIAN supertanker seized
by Royal Marines in Gibraltar
six weeks ago can be released,
a court ruled yesterday, despite
a plea from US authorities.
The Grace 1 had been detained
in the British overseas territory
on suspicion it was taking oil to
Syria – which is in breach of
European Union sanctions.
But the move triggered a tit-
for-tat retaliation by Tehran a
few days later, when its Revolu-
tionary Guards seized British-
flagged tanker Stena Impero as
it moved through the Gulf.
The tankers became pawns in
a standoff between Iran and
the West as tensions spiralled
after US President Donald Trump
pulled out of a nuclear deal.
Gibraltar chief minister Fabian
Picardo decided to lift the
detention order after assur-
ances from Tehran that the ship
will not discharge its 2.1million
barrels of crude oil in Syria,
which paves the way for a pos-
sible release of Stena Impero.
He said: ‘In light of the assur-
ances we have received, there
are no longer any reasonable
grounds for the continued legal
detention of the Grace 1’
A last-minute request from
the US to prevent the release
was dismissed as no formal
paperwork had been received.Bid to cut strict
fracking limits
STRICT regulations to stop
earthquakes being triggered
by fracking mining could be
relaxed in a Government review.
The controversial technique
to release shale gas – shooting
high-pressure jets of water and
chemicals deep underground
to crack rocks – can generate
tremors. A number of minor
quakes in December at gas com-
pany Cuadrilla’s site in York-
shire, the UK’s only fracking
mine, brought operations to a
halt, which prompted calls for
larger tremors to be allowed.
As mining resumed yesterday
the Government said the tremor
data is now being reviewed.From Claire Duffin in Hong Kong
and David Williams in London
the crisis could escalate.
Liu Xiaoming accused democ-
racy protesters of dragging Hong
Kong ‘down a dangerous road’.
As huge numbers of People’s Lib-
eration Army troops massed a few
miles from the Hong Kong border,
Mr Liu said if unrest became
‘uncontrollable’, the central gov-
ernment would not ‘sit on its hands
and watch’.
‘We have enough solutions and
enough power to quell the unrest
swiftly,’ he said in London yester-
day. ‘We hope this will end in an
orderly way. In the meantime, we
are fully prepared for the worst.’
Thousands of Chinese military
personnel waving red flags paraded
at Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre
just across the border with Hong
Kong yesterday.
As China continued its show of
strength in the face of protests,
startling pictures showed soldiers
in uniform marching in formation
on the pitch while others were seen
carrying riot shields.
Scores of armoured personnel
carriers, water cannon and other
specialised military vehicles could
be seen at the stadium in the city
of Shenzhen – five miles from the
22-mile border between China and
the former British colony.
Intelligence sources told the Daily
Mail that the Chinese military was
China: We have the
power to quell unrest
Ambassador’s
chilling warning
to protesters
in Hong Kong
BEIJING will move swiftly to
‘quell the unrest’ in Hong Kong if
the situation deteriorates, Chi-
na’s envoy to the UK has warned
in the most chilling sign yet that