'..the reaction globally could be even more chilly if the PLA moved again to crack down in Hong Kong.''Hundreds of thousands of citizens of Australia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States could be affected by a crackdown in Hong Kong.
"The diplomatic and reputational hit to China would be huge if there's another Tiananmen-like incident, because it would be broadcast and live-tweeted to the world," said Ben Bland, research fellow at Sydney's Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.
When the PLA was deployed to the streets of Beijing in 1989 to clear pro-democracy protesters, leading to many deaths, the international community quickly condemned the military action.
But Bland said the reaction globally could be even more chilly if the PLA moved again to crack down in Hong Kong.
"We're in a much more bitter era of entrenched competition between the US and China in particular, as well as China and other Western powers," he said.
"It would underline for a lot of people that it's almost impossible to do business with China and even live with China." '
- Ben Westcott,
A military crackdown in Hong Kong would backfire on China's economy, August 5, 2019
Context'..China’s problem. The problem isn’t capitalism. It’s power.'