HONG KONG MOVES FROM PROTESTS TO CIVIL UNREST AS CHINA THREATENS INTERVENTION: My latest Creators Syndicate column.

…Michael Yon reports that one can feel the collective political and emotional change on Hong Kong’s streets — change that may have dire consequences.

Has the protestors’ cause gone beyond autonomy?

Sometime during the past three weeks, (Yon) mused, the situation went beyond civil unrest. “It is clear that a growing number want to overthrow the HK government,” he said. Though he had yet to hear anyone say it, he bet that “within just a week or so they will be saying it.” He speculated an insurgency could erupt because “clearly many protestors would rather see the city burn than just surrender.”

As Stephen Green noted in an earlier post, the Hong Kong government has withdrawn the “Extradition Bill” (nickname for the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019). The BBC calls the bill “controversial.” Despicable is more apt.

Is Beijing having second thoughts?

The column’s conclusion:

Beijing must de-escalate the Hong Kong crisis. If the regime resorts to force and kills hundreds, if not thousands, of Hong Kong citizens, President Donald Trump will use that heinous act to unite the world against communist China.

Stay tuned. And read the whole thing.