Hong Kong protests persist as demonstrators target regions outside city
Today, pro-democracy activists will hold protests in Hong Kong’s rural district of Sha Tin, near the border with mainland China.
It is the latest escalation of months-long protests against a now-suspended extradition bill. Over the past two weeks, protesters have demonstrated in Hong Kong’s Kowloon region and districts bordering the mainland—areas popular with Chinese day-trippers and tourists.
This is a provocative move by the Hong Kong protest movement that, among other things, aims to have Chinese tourists record the protests and disseminate the evidence inside China. The government on the mainland has thus far heavily censored the demonstrations.
Beijing has taken a relatively hands-off approach to the protests, leaving it to beleaguered Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Hong Kong authorities to handle. However, attempting to spark some sort of revolution in the mainland will likely be considered a direct challenge to Beijing itself and risks a higher-level response. This could take involve the mainland Communist Party pressuring Hong Kong’s regional government to introduce martial law and banning all protesters in the border regions.
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