4 ms·

China's proven incapable of stopping, preventing or outlawing peaceful resistance so why would the populace invite them to a gun fight?

• AnimalMuppet 7y ago
  One of these days, China is likely to bring the gun fight to the peaceful resistance. The question is, does the peaceful resistance want to be on the receiving end of a massacre, or do they want to have a gun fight? (Note well: It is unclear to me what the right answer is, either from the point of view of achieving political goals, or even from the point of view of minimizing the number of casualties.)
  • benologist 7y ago
    If China pursues atrocities against HK they will be financially strangled by the international community's sanctions, having the mainland population freefall back into poverty is an existential threat. Taiwan is more powerful than anything HK could ever muster and all their actual military might is barely an inconvenience in CCP planning. Hong Kong arming itself is probably a best-case scenario for China.
  • yorwba 7y ago
    In 1989, the PLA lost tanks to artillery fire in Bejing not because the populace had been stockpiling artillery, but because PLA units deserted when they learned that they were supposed to be fighting civilians. A one-sided gun fight is bound to turn into a two-sided gun fight as long as soldiers aren't 100% on board with the massacre. From that perspective, the development of separate national identities between Hong Kong and Mainland China is worrying, as it makes it easier for soldiers to emotionally distance themselves from what they're doing.