> But the threat of draining HK is an interesting sort of pressure to put on China. I suspect that if the trickle shows any sign of becoming a significant exod

> But the threat of draining HK is an interesting sort of pressure to put on China. I suspect that if the trickle shows any sign of becoming a significant exodus, a state of emergency will be called and all HK-ers passports will be cancelled, probably under the pretext of issuing new documents. While the US is shifting it's focus to the Asia Pacific region [0], that's probably hollow posturing. Even if the US had the willingness, what could they do on China's doorstep (beyond bluster) that wouldn't trigger a major military crisis? If Hong Kong is China's Anschluss, will Taiwan be its Poland? I sincerely doubt the current US administration has the diplomatic nouse to out-maneuver China here. The failure to check China is likely to send a shockwave around the world, signalling to allies the truth of what they already suspect - that is, that an increasingly withdrawn and internally focused US will not willingly elect to spend its blood and treasure defending anything but its immediate interests. In Australia, the government has signalled a huge (by our standards) increase in military spending in the next decade, as a consequence of this reality [1]. The times, they are a changin'. [0] https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Thousands-of-US-troops-will-shift-to-Asia-Pacific-to-guard-against-China https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Tho... [1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/australia-unveils-10-year-defence-strategy/12408232 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/australia-unveils-10-...