Maybe but she is a fairly typical Hong Kong girl actually. I met her when she was a law student and she told me that her life goal was to jack as much money as possible from her clients so she can enjoy her life and vacation all the time. On our second date, she voiced harsh criticism at China and the Chinese government (for reasons that sometimes she cannot even articulate properly) which led me to almost leave her at the restaurant and let her Uber it home. But something inside me though made me stay debate her and I did. I spent much time on her over many debates often with computer open Google on overdrive as we laid out facts to each other. She showed me that Hong Kongers have an identity crisis; she said they hated the British when they were there and tried to use Cantonese as much as possible to keep them out of the interactions but also opposed Chinese total rule because they felt superior to Mainlanders in how much more cultured they thought themselves to be. They don't know who they are or where they belong and are quite frankly angry and torn inside. That's the kind of image she gave me of herself and she said she fit right in with everyone. I spent a long time patching her up and making her proud of her Chinese heritage; now she is proud of her Miao and Mulao Chinese roots, supports the CCP in China's rise, and says that her new professional goal in life is to provide legal representation for Chinese companies so they are more competitive globally. She's definitely one of the more meaningful relationships in my life.
But yes, the cards are in Bejing's hands and I agree that they must consider the prudence of military action against other methods. After all, we can see from America's brutality, that force sometimes only creates more counter-force, and more problems. And force against ones own citizens is definitely a last resort, though not one that is off the table.
