A massive convoy of armored vehicles, trucks, and other vehicles belonging to China's paramilitary People's Armed Police, or PAP, has assembled in the city of Shenzhen. This is less than 20 miles to the northwest of Hong Kong, where protests have been ongoing against authorities in that semi-autonomous region for months now. Chinese authorities say that the deployment is merely part of a scheduled exercise, but it comes after officials on the mainland said the demonstrations showed the "budding shoots of terrorism," a heavy-handed statement that many have taken to be a threat of an imminent crackdown. Pictures and video clips of the PAP vehicles, which includes WZ-551 armored personnel carriers with bulldozer blades and construction equipment that could be useful in removing barricades, congregating in the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center appeared on social media on Aug. 12, 2019. The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and its tabloid offshoot Global Times, both published official videos of the convoy that same day, describing the event as preparations for a major drill. The South China Morning Post, an independent outlet based in Hong Kong, reportedly tried to interview some of the paramilitary personnel, but they "shook their heads and said nothing" when asked to confirm they were only there for an exercise. The PAP, which is primarily responsible for internal security duties, reports to both the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the country's Central Military Commission, though it is not a component of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

"In the past few days, Hong Kong's radical demonstrators have repeatedly attacked police officers with extremely dangerous tools, which already constitutes serious violent crimes and has begun to show signs of terrorism," Yang Guang, a spokesperson for the Chinese State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, had said earlier on Aug. 12, 2019. "This is a gross violation of the rule of law and social order in Hong Kong ... violent crimes must be resolutely cracked down in accordance with the law, without hesitation or mercy."

It has often been difficult to assess the character of the demonstrations in Hong Kong, even with an immense amount of photographic and video documentation. There has certainly been at least some level of violence from portions of the protest movement. At the same time, though, there have been claims that Hong Kong Police have infiltrated, or at least tried to infiltrate, protestor groups in order to commit acts of violence that authorities could pin on them. There has also been significant evidence of police brutality and possible collaboration between authorities and violent counter-protesters.

The protests initially erupted in June 2019 over a proposed new law that would have made it easier for Chinese authorities to seek the extradition of individuals from Hong Kong, weakening the semi-autonomous region's separate judicial system. In 1997, Hong Kong, which had been a British colony for more than 150 years, returned to Chinese control. As part of the repatriation agreement, Beijing promised to respect a "one country, two systems" arrangement for the next 50 years, affording Hong Kong substantial political and other freedoms compared to the rest of the country. Authorities in Hong Kong have shelved the proposed extradition bill indefinitely, but now demonstrators are calling on them to meet a total of five demands. These are the complete abandonment of that law, a retraction of the official description of a massive protest on June 12 as a "riot," unconditional release of all arrested protesters, the creation of an independent commission to investigate the police's handling of the protests, and universal suffrage. At present, an Election Committee of designated business, community, and political leaders in the semi-autonomous region nominate a Chief Executive, which China's central State Council then either approves or rejects. In addition, limited electorates are responsible for choosing 30 of the 70 members of the region's legislative assembly.

Kyodo via AP Images Riot police conduct operations near the seat of Hong Kong's legislature after protesters stormed the building on July 2, 2019.