Washington Post: Hong Kong on the verge of collapse

Hong Kong is on the verge of collapse, citing anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong five months ago for the first time over the extradition bill.

For the past few days, the police have fought fierce battles with students holed up on campus and armed with bricks, firebombs and even bows and arrows.

When the students finally evacuated the campus last Saturday, security forces moved to dismantle the roadblocks erected by the students, the first time troops took to the streets of Hong Kong during the crisis.

Hospitals have treated dozens of injured people, many of them seriously.

The crisis worsened
All this is happening in a city formerly known as law and order and the peaceful moderation of its pro-democracy movement.

She adds that the reason for the aggravation of the crisis is due to the strict approach taken by the Chinese Communist government and the administration of Hong Kong, which controls it towards what began as peaceful protests in the city.

The demonstrators, who first took to the streets in Hong Kong last June, had a simple demand to withdraw the proposed law that would have allowed Hong Kong authorities to arrest people and hand them over to Chinese authorities.

The unrest could have ended quickly if the bill had been withdrawn, but Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam refused to compromise even as tensions escalated steadily.

Live ammunition
Demonstrators' demands have escalated after they were assaulted by police, who were confronted with tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and even recent live ammunition.

Demonstrators are now demanding an independent investigation into police brutality and dropping charges against thousands arrested.

More importantly, according to the Washington Post, protesters are asking Beijing to keep the promise it had made while seizing Hong Kong in 1997, and to allow full democratic elections for the city's executive and legislature.

However, the regime is relentless and rejects any concession, making the protests extend to weekdays instead of weekends, and demonstrators are increasing to defend themselves to the police with the means of violence available to them.

Step up and Beijing
The newspaper adds that this is a regrettable development, but says that the students did not start the confrontations, and they can not end, and that the responsibility to remove escalation rests with Beijing.

She says the only way to end street clashes is for the Hong Kong authorities to police and meet the protesters' reasonable demands.

She adds that the regime may resort to tougher measures, and believes that the United States and other democracies must be ready to respond in this case.