The current round of protests began four months ago, but far from abating, they have been growing in intensity. It was the first time since the standoff began that someone had been hit by a live round. Lam slowly relented, first suspending the Bill and eventually withdrawing it, but in the meantime the protests gathered more momentum. The police must show restraint, and the Hong Kong government should ignore calls from pro-Beijing politicians to invoke colonial-era emergency laws to contain the protests. That would allow the protesters to press their legitimate demand for universal suffrage without the threat of a disastrous Chinese intervention looming in the background.

Source: The Irish Times October 02, 2019 18:00 UTC