Twenty-odd years ago I was living and working in HK. There had been massive uncertainty as to how the PRC would behave after the 1997 handover from the British, but nothing much changed - just subtle things. I'm fascinated to see that all those little schoolkids I saw every day have now grown up to understand how they have more freedom than mainlanders, but are nonetheless trapped in an undemocratic system over which they have no control, and it's ruled by one man. I'm inclined to agree with other contributors: the PRC generally does as it chooses without regard to the rest of the world. This time the global visibility of what's happening may give them pause.