I don't see how these protests will be successful. I expect they will eventually lose and either fall in line or be replaced.
I can't help but wonder how things would be different if the Hong Kong population was armed like Americans.
I can't help but wonder how things would be different if the Hong Kong population was armed like Americans.
Also allows you to hold out long enough to import more weaponry from sympathetic regimes.
Plus drone based weapons are cheap and effective.
No, that's wrong. Conflicts like the one in Afghanistan show they can be effective against a well-equipped modern army, you just need to deploy them with the right (asymmetric) tactics.
The only way I see it ending well is if somehow the military/police side with HK and China decide that it isn't worth the trouble. Even if China goes full berserk on HK I don't see the EU or US doing more than economic sanctions, and we all know this is as bad for US as it is for them.
If the population of HK was sufficiently armed and motivated, the only way the PLA could do that "in a few hours" is with nukes.
But you make a good point: asymmetric tactics can be countered with indiscriminate extermination. However the diplomatic fallout of such tactics is likely unacceptable, even to the PRC.
No, they could obliterate HK with conventional artillery. But that would be a huge mistake, to say the least.