Tens of thousands of Hong Kong people will flock to three People’s Liberation Army bases tomorrow and Sunday for the annual open days. Shek Kong air field will admit people — with tickets — tomorrow, so will San Wai Base at Fanling. On Sunday the naval base on Stonecutters island will be open. Last year 22,000 people were reported to have thronged Shek Kong and San Wai bases, 17,000 crowded into Stonecutters. They saw soldiers drilling scarily with fixed bayonets, military bands belting out martial numbers, snappy flag-raising ceremonies and kids handling automatic assault rifles, under supervision. It is all part of annual celebrations of the 1997 Hand-over.
The 6,000 troops in Hong Kong are commanded by Major General Chen Daoxiang, appointed by the Central Military Commission in Peking. The troops are distributed in many bases handed over by the British, some with romantic names, Cassino Lines, Gallipoli Lies, Osborn Barracks. At Shek Kong the PLA Air Force presence is small, one detachment of HAMC Harbin Z-9B helicopters, which you will occasionally see flying around Hong Kong skies. At Stonecutters Island, Ngong Shuen Chau base is home to the South Sea Fleet Squadron. Here you can see Houjian class boats with anti-ship missiles, anti-aircraft guns and cannons plus a few Yuhai class landing ships with 25mm guns.
The PLA’s role in Hong Kong is to establish China’s sovereignty and back the local police force. They are armed with sub-machine guns, light machine guns, automatic assault rifles, sniper rifles and grenade launchers. Fleets of trucks, Humvees and motorcycles provide their mobility, but the soldiers are rarely seen, confined to their bases.
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