Hong Kong protesters storm their legislature.

Protesters break into the Legislative Council building. Reuters. 

Disorder in Hong Kong as protesters stormed the Legislative Council building before being dispersed by police with tear gas. Reuters. Around 1000 protesters were protesting a proposed change in extradition laws. The protesters attacked the glass doors of the building which eventually gave in. Damage was done to both the Legislative Council building and the city streets. News of the continuing disorder in Hong Kong has been heavily censored in mainland China. 

My Comment:

Just a quick update to a continuing story. Scrapping the extradition law has not done anything to quell these protests and riots. These protesters are very angry and want the leader of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, to resign. So far they have tabled the extradition law but as long as Lam is in power I think these protests will continue. 

Attacking the legislature is a pretty huge message of defiance. These protesters did quite a bit of damage as well. It's a major escalation in a situation that is already very serious. It also shows that the authorities could be losing control. 

It's unclear how many people in Hong Kong supported this incident. While more than 1 million people showed up to the previous protests it seems like a lot fewer showed up for this one. If the Reuters report is right and it was only 1000 people that's a huge step down in numbers. 

Regardless, I am betting China is panicking right now. China's biggest fear is civil unrest as their country is too huge to control if people aren't cooperating. They have cracked down hard on civil unrest before, up to and including actual violence. They have tried to give the protesters some of what they want here but I fear that if things don't calm down soon there could be violence.

All that being said, I am far from an expert on China. They have been very resilient in the past and I am not sure how much of a threat the Hong Kong situation is. Hong Kong is fairly unique and what happens there may not spread outside of the city. However, if it does start to spread it could be a major threat to the stability of China and it's leadership.