Hong Kong airport reopened today, welcoming a bit of news from the contested city that China’s military appears poised to enter should Pro-democracy protests escalate.   

Protesters appeal to travelers at the airport: “We do not intend to cause delays in your travels, and we do not want to cause you inconvenience. We ask for your understanding and forgiveness as young people in Hong Kong continue to fight for freedom and democracy.”

And about the Chinese military, us President Donald trump wrote this to the world shortly after lunch on Tuesday: “Our intelligence has informed us that the Chinese government is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm peaceful and safe!”You can recall some of these movements in Sunday night’s Reuters report on the situation in Hong Kong, here. 

But now we can see the result of these military movements more clearly with this satellite imagery over a sports arena just 25km from Hong Kong. In the photos, you’ll see 500 or so ” what appear to be armored personnel carriers and other vehicles belonging to China’s paramilitary people’s armed police … sitting on and around the football stadium in Shenzhen Bay Sports center right across the Harbor “from Hong Kong.

Worth noting: “Chinese state media said only that the exercises” that drew these 500 or so vehicles to the stadium “were planned before the hand and were not directly related to the unrest in Hong Kong,” AP reports, ” although they came shortly after the Central government in Beijing said the protests were beginning to show “sprouts of terrorism.”

Would Keith do that? The AP writes that the order in the PLA will upend the territory’s “reputation as a safe and stable place to invest in” will be seen “as evidence of the Communist party’s failure to win the hearts and minds of the city’s 7.3 million residents.” 

On the other hand, “mainland China is believed to have already sent officers to strengthen the ranks of the Hong Kong police, and may have planted decoys among the protesters in order to encourage more violent actions that could eventually turn ordinary Hong Kongers against the protest movement.” 

More on those alleged decoys: Hong Kong police appear to have started “dressing like protesters, infiltrating protests, starting violence and then beating protesters, “” the Washington post’s Josh Rogin noted in this report Monday from Hong Kong free Click. 

Moreover, China “uses state and social media to wage a disinformation war against Hong Kong demonstrators,” the New York Times wrote. The story cites the example of a news channel that inappropriately blamed a woman injured by police.

USN port visits canceled. CNN’s Barbara Starr: “amid the turmoil in Hong Kong, China denies U.S. Navy requests for two ships to visit ports. The USS Green Bay was scheduled to visit Hong Kong on August 17 and the USS Lake Erie was scheduled for September @HongKongProtest (Reality: USN doesn’t like to make port visits during riots)”

If China sends troops to Hong Kong, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., told Reuters on Tuesday that “there will be action in Congress to enforce the autonomy agreements that have been concluded in what is part of Hong Kong’s special recognition.” Part of this special recognition includes “1992 U.S. law grants Hong Kong preferential treatment in matters of trade and economy compared to China,” Reuters writes. “Special treatment areas include visas, law enforcement and investment.” 

Republican Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado wrote a warning to China on Tuesday that said, ” the Administration must make it clear to Beijing that any crackdown in Hong Kong will have profound consequences for China, including the imposition of U.S. sanctions, which were included in my amendment that passed the Senate under the national defense authorization Act.”

On China’s broken promises: Hong Kong is just the most pressing example, writes Jacob Stokes of the US Institute for peace. “A number of violated Beijing agreements are beginning to weigh heavily on us-China relations.” Read on, here. 

China’s army may miss some of its modernization goals / / IISS ‘ Henry Boyd: But the PLA will still have more modern armored brigades than the United States.

New tool reveals big vulnerabilities in mobile apps that use multiple clouds / / Patrick Tucker: Remote servers that feed thousands of popular apps Harbor rat nest vulnerabilities.

Our efforts to prevent nuclear terror are dwindling. There is no threat. Lee Hamilton and George Schultz: Five ideas to help Congress reinvigorate a critical pursuit of nuclear security.

Chinese propaganda goes Tech-Savvy to reach a new generation / / / Wanning Sun, Talk: how propaganda party strategies are becoming more subtle and complex, so our framework for understanding them.

NIST has a roadmap for the development of artificial intelligence standards / / Jack Corrigan, Nextgov: NIST also calls for tools to help institutions better examine and evaluate the quality of systems running on them.

According to the UN, about a dozen civilians were killed in an Afghan military operation near the Pakistani border. Kabul’s spy service, the National security Directorate, told Reuters overnight that “the operation in Paktia province targeted a Taliban hideout and two commanders were among the 11 militants killed.” However, ” a politician in the area said that government forces attacked a student Assembly during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.” A little more, here. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan is asking for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council due to rising tensions in Kashmir, Islamabad’s foreign Ministry said today (Reuters). 

As for new weapons: North Korea has warned the US not to put a new medium-range missile In South Korea unless it wants a new cold war, Reuters reports. 

A-10 Warthogs will now fly until the late 2030s, the air force times reported Tuesday after a new” re-wing ” operation. Read more for layered attack ads and videos, here.

And finally today: the US Navy is turning away from sensor systems and back into mechanical controls on its destroyers “after the fatal USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) collision,” the US Navy Institute news reported last week. Read more about the return to old technology in the Verge from Sunday here.

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