[onetimemanytime]

Hong Kong is a matter of national security to China. Something countries go to wars till the last man over. So what you mentioned is nothing, China has a lot more goodies in the bag. Here's one: Granting pardons or giving immunity to top criminal gangs as a long as they kill xxx revolt leaders.

[johnchristopher]

Why is this comment downvoted ?

In my country, Belgium, headlines were along the lines of "The real question now is: how patient is Beijing inclined to be ?".

[high_derivative]

There seems to be a lot of downvoting irrespective of post quality.

I wonder if this is i) thread-specific due to possible brigading, or ii) a more wider tribalistic phenomenon. I have perceived (lost my old account from years ago) that downvoting more and more is plain disagreement with the opinion, not whether a comment is substantive. Could be completely off and biased, but at least in this thread it seems to be the case.

[m-p-3]

Just a friendly reminder that "matter of national security" refers to the security of those currently in a position of power, the people here is incidental.

[AnimalMuppet]

Hong Kong is viewed as a matter of national security to China. The only way it threatens the "national security" of China is by opening the door for people to question the goodness and wisdom of the Communist Party.

[pishpash]

Where does the influence of China end and Western influence begin? Despite the political handover, there was no sudden change on this influence boundary in 1997. That is still being fought over year by year, and it's a highly legitimate national security issue.