HONG KONG: PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY ARRIVE AFTER HANDOVER

(1 Jul 1997) Natural Sound

On its first morning under Beijing rule, Hong Kong was flooded on Tuesday with People's Liberation Army troops.

China sent its 4,000-strong force of soldiers in at dawn in driving monsoon-like rain.

But the weather didn't deter small bands of well wishers who turned out to welcome the P-L-A to Hong Kong.

The morning after the momentous night before, People's Liberation Army troops streamed over the border into China's new special administrative region.

The impeccably orderly deployment, capping a spectacular handover ceremony Monday, suggested that the Chinese military is aware of the suspicion many Hong Kong people harbour toward it.

And the welcome indicated that at least some of those people don't mind having the People's Liberation Army in their midst.

The deployment was one of the most sensitive issues arising from the handover, because many in Hong Kong remember the army's crushing of the pro-democracy movement in Beijing in 1989.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin had issued a statement Monday ordering the troops to respect Hong Kong's laws, its people and its way of life.

As they arrived, not all of the soldiers were armed and there were fewer armoured personnel carriers amongst the convoy than many feared.

Britain had sharply protested the use of armoured vehicles, saying they would frighten people.

Despite the unrelenting downpour, the troops stood motionless and expressionless in their trucks.

Some barely reacted to crowds of well wishers who lined the streets -- either to welcome them or just witness this unprecedented arrival.

Others waved bunches of flowers. They headed straight for their permanent positions in China's newly reclaimed territory and quickly vanished into their barracks, under orders to stay there except when not on duty.

Then 10 Chinese navy ships sailed in, some carrying troops at attention on their decks.

They sailed under the Tsing Ma road-and-rail suspension bridge, the world's longest and a symbol of the wealth and know how that make Hong Kong so valuable to China.

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