Hong Kong is bracing for more mass protests over the weekend as China warned it could use its power to quell demonstrations.
The warning came as US President Donald Trump urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet personally with the protesters to defuse weeks of tensions.
Hundreds of China’s People’s Armed Police (PAP) on Thursday conducted exercises at a sports stadium in Shenzhen which borders Hong Kong.
The exercises came after the US State Department said it was “deeply concerned” about the movements, which have prompted worries that the troops could be used to break up protests.
Ten weeks of confrontations between police and protesters have plunged Hong Kong into its worst crisis since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
The Civil Human Rights Front, which organised million-strong marches in June, has scheduled another protest for Sunday.
China’s ambassador to London issued a stark warning, saying Beijing could use its power to quell the Hong Kong protests if the situation deteriorated further, repeating charges that some protesters had shown “signs of terrorism”.
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