HONG KONG — Chinese troops came out of the barracks in Hong Kong on Saturday — not to quell protests but to help clean up. It was a rare public appearance by the People’s Liberation Army on the streets of the semiautonomous territory, where the local government’s inability to end more than five months of often violent protest has fueled speculation that Beijing could deploy its troops. Running in formation with brooms instead of rifles, they chanted in military cadence before joining street cleaners removing debris near Hong Kong Baptist University, where police fired tear gas at protesters earlier this week. Most anti-government protesters left Hong Kong’s universities after occupying them for about a week. Police were facing off late Saturday night with a group that remained in and around Hong Kong Polytechnic University in an apparent attempt to flush them out.

Source: International New York Times November 16, 2019 06:08 UTC