I do not know why some people keep not understanding the situation? I certainly do not think China is a beacon of democracy. I do not think anyone who knows about China would say it is a democracy. At the same time, they would not say it is a communist country either. Yes I know they have the Communist Party of China. But it does not mean it is any more communist than Singapore is. China is a meritocracy just like Singapore. North Korea calls themselves the Democratic Peoples Korea and they are not democratic either.
Now back to HK. So far China has not been involved directly. That does not mean it will not in the future. China does not need HK anymore and they would rather let it die than lose them physically. I am going to quote here
"The Chinese government is looking to restructure the three gateway ports in southern mainland China and Hong Kong, with the latter focusing on transshipment and imports into the mainland; Guangzhou serving domestic cargo; and Shenzhen geared toward exports, with some import handling.
The proposals are among five recommendations to bolster Hong Kong's freight and transport sector made to the Chinese government by central government adviser and Hong Kong lawmaker Frankie Yick Chi-ming following discussions with logistics service provider and shipper interests.
Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong — the third-, fifth-, and seventh-busiest container ports in the world, respectively — had a combined throughput of 67.3 million TEU in 2018. Shenzhen throughput was up 2.1 percent last year from 2017, while Guangzhou rose 7.64 percent, and Hong Kong was down 5.68 percent."
This shows that already the Chinese ports of Shenzhen and Guangzhou has already overtaken HK and the Beijing wants to help HK. But in the eventuality that HK rebels they will just let it die.
What is already worse in terms of the housing and financial problems in HK will multiply and the economy will collapse. Why HK survived was because it was the gateway to China. Without China HK will surely die. The break up with China will not be peaceful and like Iran with the US sanctions cannot survive HK cannot survive without China. Unlike Iran, HK has not much products either. The port will lose, the airport will lose and all the financial institutions will move to Shenzhen. Is anyone going to do any business with HK if the choice is between HK and mainland China?
I feel sorry for the people of HK. They have a lot more freedom than most countries and yet they want to destroy it. Enjoy it now while they can. There is nothing they can do about it by rioting. Try to get more legislators they support into the Legco. If they get an absolute majority then they can impeach the CE Carrie Lam and get rid of her.