China's Defence Ministry has suggested that the People's Liberation Army is legally allowed to help Hong Kong “maintain social order” if requested to do so by the territory’s government, as the Asian financial centre enters its third month of protests.
Protesters in Hong Kong sought to escalate mass demonstrations in the city on Sunday by targeting one of China’s main government offices in the territory for the first time, an act that China condemned as “as absolutely unacceptable”.
Protests in the city began as opposition to an extradition bill that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China to stand trial, but soon morphed to target Hong Kong’s leader, chief executive Carrie Lam and the city’s police force.