'They're Ready To Fight:' Hong Kong Protests Near Tipping Point as Police Use Live Ammo
The chaos gripping Hong Kong appears to be at a tipping point as police seem to have used live ammunition, though only as a warning shot — at least for now.
So far, police attempting to control protesters have largely used rubber bullets, tear gas and batons. The use of live ammo comes as protests for Hong Kong’s freedom grow increasingly violent.
This is now the 13th week of protests against Chinese control of Hong Kong.
The South China Morning Post tweeted video Saturday of live ammo being fired, claiming police were using the deadly round as a warning shot to keep the crowds at bay.
Dramatic scenes near Victoria Park as a live round was fired by police skywards as a warning shot to protesters. #hongkongprotests
Video: SCMP/Kao Shan Shan pic.twitter.com/c2RDpUgPYO
— SCMP Hong Kong (@SCMPHongKong) August 31, 2019
Police in Hong Kong have used increasingly brutal and authoritarian tactics to control the protests.
Video and images of protesters with bleeding wounds, cracked skulls and all manner of injuries from police weaponry have flooded social media, underscoring the violence used to quell them.
Bloomberg’s Fion Li tweeted video of riot police entering a cramped subway station to make arrests.
“Hong Kong Masses Defy Police, Show China They’re Ready to Fight,” reads the headline of an article she coauthored on Saturday.
unprecedented scene – riot police entered multiple stations, apparently trying to make arrests. police didn’t allow press to report. #hongkongprotests#HongKong Masses Defy Police, Show China They’re Ready to Fight https://t.co/JtIZo9EhGJ @bpolitics pic.twitter.com/pxrMMxVmWf
— Fion Li (@fion_li) August 31, 2019
The use of live ammo to scare protesters is abhorrent, but it’s what residents of Hong Kong should come to expect with communist China tightening its grip on the former British port.
China has made it clear that Hong Kong is an inseparable part of the communist motherland, a notion which many in the city firmly reject.
Protesters have made continued appeals to the international community as the communist government closes in.
Some have even been seen with signs declaring their need for a 2nd Amendment-style law, giving them access to the weapons they need to fight tyranny with lethal arms.
For now, it appears the fate of Hong Kong is at a fork in the road.
Control by the Chinese government means totalitarianism, enforced by police unafraid to use live ammunition. The other road is freedom for the city, a prospect that doesn’t seem likely for the increasingly outgunned protesters.
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