Ongoing and escalating protests in Hong Kong have now begun to impact traffic at the city’s airport – one of the world’s busiest hubs. With the situation in territory deteriorating rapidly, MLI Senior Fellow Charles Burton joined CTV news to discuss the most recent developments.
According to Burton, local police continue to foment violence and escalate dangerously against protesters. He argues that police are deliberately agitating the situation through the use of tear gas in confined areas, increasingly violent beat-downs of fleeing protesters, and by deliberately placing provocateurs into the crowds.
“It’s a pretty bad situation,” explains Burton, as it does not “show any signs of resolution.”
That being said, Burton believes that at present, the principle pressures being applied by are non-military in nature. Despite the People’s Liberation Army’s ominous assembly in the neighbouring mainland city of Shenzhen, it seems that China is applying pressure through economic and other means to try to coerce protesters into backing down.
In terms of what could resolve the situation, Burton argues that the resignation of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, would be an important step forward, as would be moves to investigate allegations of police brutality.
