Hong Kong protests in favor of democracy have entered their 12th week and the Chinese dictatorship is not backing down too anytime soon. From repression to threats of military crackdown it is increasingly mobilizing underground forces and networks to smash the Hong Kong protests.

The latest news on this front comes from a really interesting article by Democracy Digest

Across the border from Hong Kong, the Chinese Communist Party screams its presence with banners and slogans on nearly every street. Yet in the former British colony, where China’s ruling party confronts what it calls a “life and death” struggle against a turbulent protest movement, it is invisible: It is not registered and has no publicly declared local members, The New York Times reports:

But in Hong Kong, this officially nonexistent organization is in the vanguard of defending Chinese rule in the face of its biggest public resistance since the authoritarian leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012. The party, operating in the shadows through individuals and organizations, is driving an increasingly firm pushback against the antigovernment protests, now in their 12th week.

“It is a massive P.R. exercise to bring people on side,” said Christine Loh, a former government official and the author of “Underground Front,” a book on the party’s methods in Hong Kong.

See full story here.