Chinese state media warns ‘end is coming’ for Hong Kong protests

They might have been able to get away with cutting off trade, supplies, and utilities without starting WW3, but the PLA would not have ravaged anything with any hellfire, without starting WW3.

They'll be able to get away with that NOW, because the city is definitely inside their territory.

But if the city had been declared free or declared still part of the UK or declared part of Taiwan, with international approval, there absolutely would not be any way that the PRC could send troops into start burning shit, without sparking the third world war. Especially if there was a large, pitched battle between some other force and the PLA.

One of the things that everyone has to ALWAYS remember about the world we live in: as soon as there is a huge, pitched battle between ANY first-rank military powers, that will be the start of the third world war, and the end of everything we know.

That's why a lot of people can get away with a lot of bad shit. Everyone knows the era of large military fights between equally-ranked world powers ended at the conclusion of WW2. The next big fight means nukes start flying. That is at the heart of all of these discussions.

/r/worldnews Thread Parent Link - scmp.com