China is ready to quell the unrest swiftly if the crisis in Hong Kong becomes uncontrollable, China’s Ambassador to London said yesterday. Images captured by media showed thousands of Chinese military personnel waving red flags and parading at a sports stadium in the city of Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong. Dozens of armoured personnel carriers and supply trucks were also parked nearby. Mr James Char, a military expert at Singapore’s NTU, said the deployment to Shenzhen was both to project an image of domestic strength as well as “a carefully calculated message to the protesters to think twice about growing or continuing with their recent intensified demonstrations”.