Satellite pics show Chinese military vehicles near Hong Kong

Satellite photos showed what appear to be armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles belonging to the China’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police parked in a sports complex in the city of Shenzhen, in what some have interpreted as a threat from Beijing to use increased force against pro-democracy protesters across the border in Hong Kong.

The pictures collected on Monday by Maxar’s WorldView show 500 or more vehicles sitting on and around the football stadium at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center just across the harbour from the Asian financial hub that has been rocked by more than two months of near-daily street demonstrations.

Chinese state media have said that the exercises had been planned beforehand and were not directly related to the unrest in Hong Kong. President Donald Trump tweeted that US intelligence believes that the Chinese government is moving troops to its border with Hong Kong and that, “Everyone should be calm and safe!”