The three-minute video showcases the PLA's tanks, helicopter gunfire, rocket launchers and other military hardware in action in Hong Kong
The announcement that 44 people had been charged with rioting -- an offence that carries a jail term of up to 10 years -- immediately triggered another round of clashes between police and protesters
A group of civil servants has also announced plans to hold a rally on Friday night -- something unheard of from a demographic that usually eschews politics
Hong Kong seems transfixed with the symptoms, not the cure
Police fired tear gas at protesters who had surrounded China's local government headquarters and defaced the national emblem
Clashes broke out as police attempted to clear the remnants of the latest mass rally against the government and its now-suspended effort to allow extraditions to mainland China
"It's a real genius of Hong Kong people," said Kong Tsung-gan, author of Umbrella: A Political Tale from Hong Kong. "There are no pre-existing structures and before you know it, they're there