If we burn, you burn with us

Greetings, I'm Andy Browne, the editorial director of the Bloomberg New Economy. By doing nothing, as Hong Kong protesters launch the boldest challenge to the Communist Party’s leadership in three decades, Chinese President Xi Jinping risks looking weak. That's particularly true since the popular mood on the mainland has swung sharply against what is widely perceived to be a rich, privileged and arrogant former British colonial outpost that has rejected not just its new masters in Beijing but also its Chinese heritage. The mob beating of a Chinese reporter and another mainland traveler at Hong Kong’s paralyzed airport this week has further inflamed public sentiment.

Yet if Xi sends in the People's Liberation Army or paramilitaries to crack down, he would transform one of the world’s leading financial centers into an urban battleground. The resistance would bleed the Chinese economy — Hong Kong still plays a vital role in funding China Inc. — and set back China’s soft-power efforts around the world. Beijing could forget about a peaceful unification with Taiwan. Indeed, a conviction is taking hold among protesters that only the prospect of colossal damage to Hong Kong, as well as to China’s global reputation, stands between the city’s freedoms and a military onslaught. A message they spray-paint on city walls and pedestrian bridges reveals their desperation: “If we burn, you burn with us.”