There was an uneasy sense of calm on Sunday in Shenzhen, the Chinese city on the other side of the bay from Hong Kong where hundreds of troops from the People’s Armed Police [PAP] have been deployed in a show of force that the government in Beijing has called an anti-terrorism manoeuvre.

The troops, some of whom could be seen milling around the Shenzen Bay sports stadium where they are currently barracked, await word on whether they will be ordered to cross and quell what has been a mix of violent anti-government unrest and peaceful protest over the past 11 weeks in the former British colony.

The heavy rain squalls kept most of the Chinese military police indoors for the most part, but a few dozen of their trucks and armoured vehicles were sitting idle in the afternoon under the dark skies and rain.

Quick Guide What are the Hong Kong protests about? Show Why are people protesting? The protests were triggered by a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where the Communist party controls the courts, but have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement. Public anger – fuelled by the aggressive tactics used by the police against demonstrators – has collided with years of frustration over worsening inequality and the cost of living in one of the world's most expensive, densely populated cities. The protest movement was given fresh impetus on 21 July when gangs of men attacked protesters and commuters at a mass transit station – while authorities seemingly did little to intervene. Underlying the movement is a push for full democracy in the city, whose leader is chosen by a committee dominated by a pro-Beijing establishment rather than by direct elections.

Protesters have vowed to keep their movement going until their core demands are met, such as the resignation of the city’s leader, Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into police tactics, an amnesty for those arrested and a permanent withdrawal of the bill. Lam announced on 4 September that she was withdrawing the bill. Why were people so angry about the extradition bill? Beijing’s influence over Hong Kong has grown in recent years, as activists have been jailed and pro-democracy lawmakers disqualified from running or holding office. Independent booksellers have disappeared from the city, before reappearing in mainland China facing charges. Under the terms of the agreement by which the former British colony was returned to Chinese control in 1997, the semi-autonomous region was meant to maintain a “high degree of autonomy” through an independent judiciary, a free press and an open market economy, a framework known as “one country, two systems”. The extradition bill was seen as an attempt to undermine this and to give Beijing the ability to try pro-democracy activists under the judicial system of the mainland. How have the authorities responded? Beijing has issued increasingly shrill condemnations but has left it to the city's semi-autonomous government to deal with the situation. Meanwhile police have violently clashed directly with protesters, repeatedly firing teargas and rubber bullets. Beijing has ramped up its accusations that foreign countries are “fanning the fire” of unrest in the city. China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi has ordered the US to “immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any form”. Lily Kuo and Verna Yu in Hong Kong

To mainland China, the protesters have become a torment that the government and state-run media increasingly suggest must be ended, one way or another, and most here in Shenzhen – a former manufacturing centre that has now turned into China’s hi-tech metropolis – appear to be aligned with the Chinese government narrative, with little sympathy for protesters in Hong Kong.

After blocking most news of the protests over the first month and a half from its citizens behind the “Great Firewall”, China’s government has moved to take over the narrative in the past few weeks by equating protesters with terrorists and “hostile foreign forces” bent on undermining the country.

“I have one clear message to say to you,” said one angry Chinese man fresh from a football match with his friends. “I support China, and Hong Kong is part of China and this is China’s internal affair,” he said before moving off and refusing to give his name.

Others in the area generally had the same attitude, if slightly less strident.



“What they are doing is really reasonable,” Shenzhen resident Joe Song, 30, said of the staging by the PAP. “Any government has to prepare for situations like this. We hope for a peaceful outcome, but they still need to prepare.”

Song showed no hope for the protesters’ cause. “I think what they are doing to Hong Kong, they are fighting for nothing, they are fighting for no reason,” he said. “I used to go to Hong Kong a lot, but lately I’ve not been going. I don’t want to get hurt for some stupid ideas.”

Song said he did not expect the PAP to go in to Hong Kong unless violence continued to escalate, saying that the presence was more of a “show of force” than anything.

Some here show a bit more understanding, if not outright sympathy. “I understand the situation in Hong Kong, how young people are making their voice heard and expressing their hopes and demands,” Zhang Yibing, 35, said outside the centre.

Quick Guide Democracy under fire in Hong Kong since 1997 Show Hong Kong’s democratic struggles since 1997 1 July 1997: Hong Kong, previously a British colony, is returned to China under the framework of “one country, two systems”. The “Basic Law” constitution guarantees to protect, for the next 50 years, the democratic institutions that make Hong Kong distinct from Communist-ruled mainland China. 2003: Hong Kong’s leaders introduce legislation that would forbid acts of treason and subversion against the Chinese government. The bill resembles laws used to charge dissidents on the mainland. An estimated half a million people turn out to protest against the bill. As a result of the backlash, further action on the proposal is halted. 2007: The Basic Law stated that the ultimate aim was for Hong Kong’s voters to achieve a complete democracy, but China decides in 2007 that universal suffrage in elections for the chief executive cannot be implemented until 2017. Some lawmakers are chosen by business and trade groups, while others are elected by vote. In a bid to accelerate a decision on universal suffrage, five lawmakers resign. But this act is followed by the adoption of the Beijing-backed electoral changes, which expand the chief executive’s selection committee and add more seats for lawmakers elected by direct vote. The legislation divides Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, as some support the reforms while others say they will only delay full democracy while reinforcing a structure that favors Beijing. 2014: The Chinese government introduces a bill allowing Hong Kong residents to vote for their leader in 2017, but with one major caveat: the candidates must be approved by Beijing. Pro-democracy lawmakers are incensed by the bill, which they call an example of “fake universal suffrage” and “fake democracy”. The move triggers a massive protest as crowds occupy some of Hong Kong’s most crowded districts for 70 days. In June 2015, Hong Kong legislators formally reject the bill, and electoral reform stalls. The current chief executive, Carrie Lam, widely seen as the Chinese Communist party’s favoured candidate, is hand-picked in 2017 by a 1,200-person committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites. 2019: Lam pushes amendments to extradition laws that would allow people to be sent to mainland China to face charges. The proposed legislation triggers a huge protest, with organisers putting the turnout at 1 million, and a standoff that forces the legislature to postpone debate on the bills. After weeks of protest, often meeting with violent reprisals from the Hong Kong police, Lam announced that she would withdraw the bill. Photograph: Dale de la Rey/AFP

“However, making their voice heard by damaging public facilities and hindering Hong Kong’s development is not going to lead them anywhere,” he added. “For now, I think the most important thing is to restore stability and move forward and make efforts to improve the status quo.”

Inside the stadium walls, military police could be heard talking and joking, briefly seen as doors opened for the lone trooper or two exiting to dispose of lunchtime garbage.

Below, near the parking area, 20 troopers at a time streamed out dressed in athletic shirts and shorts and returned a short time later laden with their full kit in large camouflage backpacks.

The process was repeated several times with each platoon exiting and retrieving their kit. Whether in preparation to enter Hong Kong in an attempt to put down the unrest, or simply to give them something to do on a rainy day is uncertain.

The Guardian was stopped twice by police and asked to delete photos taken of the trucks at close range from a balcony.

The police were generally amiable and on the second occasion, after the Guardian had been talking to several groups of people in the parking area, said they had to come check again since they’d received too many calls from people asking why they weren’t doing anything about the “spies in the sports centre”.

Additional reporting by Zhong Yunfan