With the biggest Hong Kong protest in recent history taking place over the weekend, and continuing indefinitely because one thing is certain: the local student demands for more democracy and the ouster of HK chief executive CY Leung will not be met, what everyone has focused on is what China's response, call it crackdown, to the breakout of violence will be. After all, while algos and the Fed's liquidity tsunami have priced in pretty much everything short of (or including, according to some) World War III, a repeat of Tiananmen square could well be large enough to where it registers as a slight downtick in the Fed's balance sheet, pardon the S&P 500.
Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung
So for all those eager to track the progression of China's responses to the protests, here is the first official statement via CRIEnglish [4]:
China's central government is describing the so-called Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong as an "illegal gathering."
At the same time, mainland authorities say they're confident authorities in Hong Kong are able to handle it.
The Occupy group in Hong Kong is opposed to the new plans for universal suffrage in the city.
Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung says the Hong Kong government considers the Occupy movement illegal.
At the same time, Leung says his government plans to continue moving forward with the consultation process.
"And in so far as consultations and the question of constitutional development is concerned, it is also important to bear in mind that we have to operate within the framework of the stipulations of the Basic Law and the National People's Congress Standing Committee's decisions because these are the legal and constitutional frameworks for Hong Kong's constitutional developments to go forward in."
Protests this weekend in Hong Kong turned ugly, with police being forced to use tear-gas to disperse demonstrators who were trying to push through police lines.
For now China is merely escalating the verbal rhetoric, and is hoping that the student will get bored and go home. Which they won't. So what happens then? Well, the following post [5]should provide some insight...
