It seems like Hong Kong's " Umbrella Protest " movement has won a major victory. Carrie Lam has bowed to pressure and announced that the proposed extradition law will be withdrawn. She is the chief executive appointed by Beijing and it is unlikely that she would make that concession without the nod from her masters.
It seems that China is stepping back from sending in the PLA and possibly repeating the 1997 Tiananmen Square massacre in front of the world's cameras. When about half the population of Hong Kong took to the streets in lively protests it seems to have unnerved Beijing, but it is unlikely that this concession will end the unrest.
This former British trading city in Asia has been suffering creeping imposition of authority from Beijing. The leaders of the protest movement are unclear about what they hope to achieve but it seems likely that China will play the " long game " because the " One country, two systems " concession to ease the takeover had a lifetime of fifty years - and it will end in 2047.
Back in the days of the cold war the Soviet Union tried to block all forms of communication with the west. Jamming stations on its borders tried to use static to prevent both the BBC and Voice of America from breaching the iron curtain and China's Communist masters still impose restrictions of what appears in newspapers and on the media. This Hong Kong protest is being presented as interference in Chinese affairs by western powers.
During the time Deng Xiaoping ruled China it became a Communist country with a capitalist economy and now Chinese people are the biggest tourist component travelling the world. It is inevitable that what happens in Hong Kong can not be totally suppressed within that country and freedom in Hong Kong can whet the appetite of mainland Chinese for similar freedoms - and then there is the question of Taiwan !
The danger in the Hong Kong unrest is that the movement is being led by young university students and they may push their demands to impossible lengths and the end of most deals is usually negotiation.. It is hoped that they have the maturity to know when is the right time to sit down and negotiate with Beijing and not keep trying for an impossible dream.
The removal of that extradition law was a major concession by Beijing. The world economy is at knife point because of the tariff trade war in progress and anything that removes a focal flash point is welcome. It remains to be seen if the protest movement has the good sense to bring the city back to order and negotiate a reasonable settlement with Beijing ?
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