US believes if Chinese intervene, it’s because Hong Kong authorities lost control

From CNN’s Kylie Atwood. August 13, 2019

The US believes if China were to intervene militarily in the Hong Kong protests it be would likely be because the Chinese had assessed that the Hong Kong authorities have lost control, a senior administration official said.

The official said losing control could be defined as the interference of commercial activity in Hong Kong.

In the US, surveys taken after the violent suppression of protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989 showed public approval for China dropped dramatically, particularly among people under 30 and that has never recovered, the official explained, indicating that Chinese military intervention in Hong Kong is not a good idea.

If China does intervene militarily in Hong Kong, Congress will explode and there will be a lot of negative consequences, the official said.