CHINA CONTINUES TO THREATEN HONG KONG: People’s Liberation Army armored personnel carriers move to the border. That’s a mechanized infantry message.
UPDATE: Business Insider publishes a photo of Peoples’ Armed Police armor on the border. Appears the photo came from a propaganda video clip. The site also has some imagery taken by civilian observers. So it’s PAP armor, not PLA. What’s the PAP? Here’s a StrategyPage post from 2012 discussing the outfit’s operations in Xinjiang province.
From that “old” post:
In China, the line between the armed forces and the police is sometimes blurred. A perfect example of this is the 660,000 personnel of the People’s Armed Police (PAP). Technically, the Armed Police is an armed force that undertakes social security duties as well as the enforcement of law and order within the country. It’s not that simple. While there are about 1.4 million local police, for emergencies (a frequent event in Xinjiang) you call the PAP. This paramilitary force will quickly smother the unrest but it won’t solve the underlying problems.
RELATED: Strategypage’s latest podcast on the Hong Kong’s crisis provides background and context. If you like it please subscribe. (bumped)
ALSO RELATED: Hong Kong challenges Xi’s authoritarianism. (bumped)