China publicly addressed the possibility of deploying the Chinese military to contain the public unrest in Hong Kong for the first time on Wednesday, suggesting that soldiers could be sent in at the request of Hong Kong officials.

China’s defence ministry said it is closely following the developments in the former British colony and pointed out that the government of Hong Kong has the legal right to call in Chinese military to maintain social order in the city.

The comments came at a press conference introducing China new defence white paper. Asked how the ministry would handle the situation in Hong Kong, a spokesman said only that “Article 14 of the garrison law has clear stipulations”.

Although he did not explicitly offer to send in the military, the comments mark a change in tone in recent days following alarming violence blamed on triad gangs in Hong Kong at the weekend.

Beijing has up until now suggested that Hong Kong authorities can deal with the growing unrest themselves, and has refrained from mentioning Article 14 and the highly controversial deployment of soldiers.