1 COUNTRY, 2 SYSTEMS, 1 CHEQUEBOOK

May 12 (Bloomberg) -- China will buy bonds sold by the Hong Kong government to support the island's debt market, Mingpao.com said on its Web site, citing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
China has already decided the size of its purchase and plans formally to announce details of the plan later, the report said. It didn't say which bonds China plans to buy.
Hong Kong plans to sell as much as HK$20 billion ($2.56 billion) of bonds in various currencies to help fund construction projects and develop its debt market. The government is projecting a budget deficit of HK$49 billion this year.

The ludicrous vitriol and diatribes regarding "patriotism" didn't shut the masses up.

The NPC "interpretation" of the basic law didn't shut the masses up.

The show of force 10 days ago with the Chinese Navy didn't shut the masses up.

So now they are going for Hong Kongs soft underbelly. If all else fails - buy the place. Then if the masses still threaten to vote for pro-democracy parties and candidates, and the noise about universal suffrage doesn't die down, they can blackmail the place by threatening to dump their bond holdings and wreck HKs bond and equity markets and probably international credit ratings too. They know the one place where every Hong Konger is vulnerable is in his wallet.

Dashed cunning these communists.