However, diplomats in Hong Kong said they believe China's leadership is well aware that moving mainland forces into Hong Kong would shatter international faith in the 'one country, two systems' model.
SHENZHEN, China/HONG KONG - Hundreds of China's People's Armed Police conducted exercises at a sports stadium in Shenzhen on Thursday, as the U.S. State Department expressed concern that they could be deployed across the border in Hong Kong to break up protests wracking the city.
The other group remained in uniform and picked up crowd-control shields and practised charging at the first group. The protests represent one of the biggest challenges for Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. A policeman patrolling the area told Reuters journalists the paramilitary police were guarding a basketball tournament.The Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid run by the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, published a slick video this week showing columns of trucks and armoured personnel carriers rolling through the city.
"We are seeing an escalation in the posturing that appears designed to send messages to both Hong Kong and the mainland ... but we are confident we are still in the realms of propaganda here," one senior Western envoy told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media."The trucks aren't about to roll at this point."
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