I do business in China and spent two weeks in China and HK in May. I got the feeling the locals in mainland China were okay with the Orwellian atmosphere they exist in and were proud of the remarkable progress they have made in the last twenty five years. HK was a different story. HK has a more Western feel. They speak Cantonese where as mainland China speak Mandarin. China has built an ultra modern IT center city next to HK (Shenzhen) possibly to try and show HK the transition to China may have advantages. I was asked to speak at two venues in Shenzhen, China and did get the feeling they had wanted a more state friendly story. Probably won't have to worry about being asked again. China is a large multi cultural country. Life today is much better than under Mao and the "Great Leap Forward" or "The Cultural Revolution". Their present system has many benefits for the population as long as you don't criticize the government publicly. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the years.

Scary they may pay the penalty for this

I fear for their safety too.

You’ve got to take your hat off to such clever and intelligent tactics....I’m just afraid that China will decide to crush them by sending in an overpowering number of Chinese soldiers or Riot Police from the mainland. There are signs that China’s patience is wearing thin. Hong Kong has enjoyed such a degree of freedom when it was administered by Britain, which has been gradually eroded since the handback to China, I can understand them not wanting to have any more of it taken from them.