Hong Kong: Military warns ‘we can hit airport in 10 minutes’

Trump suggests meeting with Xi as military commanders warn: “It takes 10 minutes to HK.”

This satellite image captured on Monday appears to show Chinese security force vehicles inside the Shenzen Bay Sports Center in the southern China. Picture: AP

Beijing has given Hong Kong protesters its most explicit warning yet, with military commanders warning: “It takes 10 minutes from Shenzhen ... to Hong Kong airport.”

The east command of the China military gave the warning as Donald Trump suggested a “personal meeting” with Xi Jinping and tied a trade deal with China to a humane resolution over the weeks long standoff between authorities and pro-democracy protsters.

In remarks on Twitter, Mr Trump said a trade deal could wait until the crisis had been resolved.

“Of course China wants to make a deal. Let them work humanely with Hong Kong first!” he wrote.

“I have ZERO doubt that if President Xi wants to quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem, he can do it. Personal meeting?”

Mr Trump sent the tweet after the US State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by reports of China troop movement along the Hong Kong border, with a US congressional committee vowing “swift consequences” for any military crackdown.

Overnight, satellite images were published showing dozens of armoured vehicles gathered inside a stadium in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, across the harbour from Hong Kong in a possible sign Beijing is poised to use force against pro-democracy protesters.

The east command of the Chinese military posted one of the photographs online along with a warning: “It takes ten minutes to reach Hong Kong from the Chunjian stadium near the Bay of Shenzhen, and it is 56 kilometres from the Hong Kong airport.”

Its statement cited several Chinese laws that could permit a military deployment in Hong Kong.

The harshest rhetoric from Beijing began yesterday morning, with the political office in Hong Kong condemning the protesters over the detention and assault of the two Chinese citizens at the airport, one of whom was a reporter for the state-run Global Times newspaper. “Such savage acts disregard the law, violate human rights, are devoid of humanity and are far beyond the bottom line of civilisation,” it said. “They are no different from those of terrorists.”

The satellite pictures collected by Maxar’s WorldView show 500 or more vehicles in and around the soccer stadium at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre. A State Department official said the number of personnel on the border was “in the thousands.”

“They have amped up training and made it all pretty visible,” he said, although he admitted: “There are no recent indicators that they are preparing to deploy.”

The bipartisan leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee condemned Chinese action against the protesters and warned that if Beijing used force to shut down peaceful demonstrations, they “would be met with universal condemnation and swift consequences.”

Chinese state media has said only that the exercises had been planned beforehand and were not directly related to the unrest in Hong Kong, although they did come shortly after the central government in Beijing said the protests were beginning to show the “sprouts of terrorism”.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, which represents about 500 companies, has urged the Hong Kong government to formally withdraw the extradition bill that triggered demonstrations, and called for an Independent Commission of Inquiry into the unrest.

“We urge all parties and stakeholders to engage in constructive and meaningful dialogue to restore peace and diffuse tensions in the interests of Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and of the city’s standing as an international business hub,” it said in a statement.

“Each day that this impasse continues, the risks and costs to both the government and people of Hong Kong increase.”

US President Donald Trump earlier tweeted that US intelligence believed Beijing was moving troops to the border with Hong Kong and that “Everyone should be calm and safe!”

Beijing has apparently been reluctant to send in police or army units from the mainland or to mobilise the People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong to quell the unrest. It is seen as mindful of the devastating effect that would have on the territory’s reputation as a safe place in which to invest, and as indication of its failure to win over the hearts of the city’s 7.3 million residents 22 years after the former British colony was handed over to China.

It would also be a shocking reminder of the PLA’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 30 years ago.

AP