US 'deeply concerned' by reports of China paramilitary movement near Hong Kong

AnotherUS official said Beijing had stationed large numbers ofparamilitaryPeople's Armed Police (PAP) "nearand further out fromHongKong," in response to weeks of street protests in the territory, but said there had been no sign they were moving towards the border.

The number of personnel was "in the thousands," said the official, who did not want to be identified.

"They have amped up training and made it all pretty visible," he said, but added: "There are no recent indicators that they are preparing to deploy."

China's state-run Global Times media outlet reported on Monday that People's Armed Police had been assembling in Shenzhen, a city borderingHongKong, "in advance of apparent large-scale exercises."

It cited video it had obtained showing numerous armoured personnel carriers (APCs), trucks and other vehicles on expressways heading in the direction of Shenzhen over the weekend.

It noted that the role of the PAP was "dealing with rebellions, riots, serious violent and illegal incidents, terrorist attacks and other social security incidents."

Satellite images made available to Reuters on Wednesday from Maxar Technologies showed dozens of vehicles, including what appeared to be APCs, at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre across the harbour fromHongKong.

On Tuesday,US President Donald Trump cited American intelligence as saying thatChinawas moving troops to its border withHongKong, and urged calm as clashes continued between protesters and authorities in the former British colony.

The State Department's expression of concern came after seniorUS lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties called on Trump to take a tougher line withChina as worries grew over a possible Chinese intervention.

The State Department spokeswoman reiterated theUS call for all sides to refrain from violence and said it was important for theHongKonggovernment to respect "freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly" and for Beijing to adhere to its commitments to allowHongKonga high degree of autonomy.

Warning on special status

She said the protests reflected "broad and legitimate concerns about the erosion ofHongKong’s autonomy" and added: " The continued erosion ofHongKong’s autonomy putsat risk its long-established special status in international affairs."

A 1992US law affordsHongKongpreferential treatment in matters of trade and economics compared withChina.

Areas of special treatment include visas, law enforcement, and investment.

A prominentUS senator warnedChinaon Tuesday thatHongKongcould lose its specialUS trade status if Beijing intervened directly to crack down on increasingly violent pro-democracy protests in the city.

Trump, who has been seeking a major deal to correct trade imbalances withChina, has faced criticism from Congress and elsewhere for not taking a stronger public line onHongKongand for his characterization of the protests earlier this month as "riots" that were a matter forChinato deal with.

The Republican president said on Tuesday the situation inHongKongwas "tricky," but hoped it would work out for everybody, includingChina, and "for liberty" without anyone getting hurt or killed.

TheUS official said the PAP units seemed to have been stationed at Shenzhen to intimidate the protesters, but the protests had yet to reach a level that would compel Beijing to send them in.

"I don’t think they’ve reached any tipping points," he said.

WhileChinawanted to maintain control, "nobody on the opposition side has crossed any red lines," the official said.

"They haven’t called for independence. They’ve walked up to the line and caused a lot of disorder, but overnight they apologised to everybody. Both sides are carefully calculating how far and how close they come to those lines."

On Tuesday,US Senator Cory Gardner, the Republican chair of the Senate's East Asia subcommittee, said the Trump administration "must make clear to Beijing that any crackdown inHongKongwill have profound consequences forChina, including the imposition ofUS sanctions."

On Wednesday, the Democratic chairman of theUS House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, and the panel's leading Republican, Michael McCaul, said they were concerned that 30 years after the Tiananmen Square massacre,Chinamight again consider brutally putting down peaceful protests.

"We urgeChinato avoid making such a mistake, which would be met with universal condemnation and swift consequences," they said in a statement.

Earlier on Wednesday, the State Department issued a travel advisory urging "increased caution inHongKongdue to civil unrest."

HongKonghas been engulfed in protests since earlier this summer.

Flights resumed on Wednesday at theHongKongairport, one of the world's busiest, which shut down for two days after demonstrators occupied it.