mobanmarketWASHINGTON: US intelligence has confirmed that China is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday, appealing for calm amid intensifying pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous financial hub.
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Trump relayed the intelligence report in a tweet as protesters paralyzed Hong Kong airport for a second day in defiance of the city’s leaders.
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“Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!” Trump said in a tweet.
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Chinese state and social media had earlier aired video of security forces gathering across the border from the enclave, which has been rocked by unrest for ten weeks.
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The Global Times and the People’s Daily ran a minute-long video compiling clips of armored personnel carriers and troop carriers purportedly driving to Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.
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The video shows roughly two dozen armored carriers apparently driving through the southern city of Guangzhou and other troop carriers leaving eastern Fujian province.
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Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times, said on social media that the military presence is a sign that if the situation in Hong Kong doesn’t improve, China will intervene.
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Speaking to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey, Trump called the situation in Hong Kong “very tricky.”
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“I hope it works out peacefully, nobody gets hurt, nobody gets killed,” he said.
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