'Radical Protesters Pushing For PLA Intervention'

A former government chief information officer, Mark Pinkstone, said on Monday that radical protesters are attempting to push Beijing into putting troops on the streets of Hong Kong, a move that would send China's credibility crashing.

Speaking on RTHK's Backchat programme, Pinkstone who retired as the top information officer in 1995, said protesters know their demands are impossible to meet, and are not within the power of the Chief Executive.

"The protesters are saying 'well, it is five demands or nothing'. That means they can prolong the demonstrations and riots as long as they like," he said.

"The whole idea is to force the PLA to come into Hong Kong to fight them, and then the credibility of China will fall apart," Pinkstone said.

But Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, who was taking part in the same programme, rejected Pinkstone's claim that the CE doesn't have the power to meet any of the five demands.

Wu said it is possible for Carrie Lam to execute a key demand of the protest movement – an independent inquiry into policing.

He said doing so could be a first step towards ending the crisis.