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

China has a long history of blaming “foreign forces” for challenges it has faced internally, including the Tiananmen Square protests 30 years ago. But the depth and ferocity of China’s accusations over Hong Kong suggest they are not merely propaganda intended for domestic or international audiences…China’s accusations of foreign influence echo those that other authoritarian governments have made in the face of popular opposition, Steven Lee Myers writes for The New York Times:

Instead, analysts said, they reflect the thinking of an increasingly anxious leadership that sees any manifestation of popular sentiment in the streets as a potential “color revolution” like those that swept Georgia, Ukraine and later the Arab world….A 42-page report released recently by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs singled out the National Endowment for Democracy, the Congressionally funded organization founded in 1983 to support the spread of democracy and human rights around the world, accusing it of underwriting a similar revolution in Hong Kong….

Its grants in 2018 included $155,000 for the Solidarity Center, the American labor advocacy group allied with the AFL-CIO, and $90,000 to the Hong Kong Justice Center, an organization in Hong Kong that monitors the territory’s compliance with rights defined by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

See full story here.