Chinese troops came out of the barracks in Hong Kong on Saturday — not to quell protests but to help clean up. It was a rare public appearance by the People’s Liberation Army on the streets of the semi-autonomous territory, where the local government’s inability to end more than five months of often violent protest has fueled speculation that Beijing could deploy its troops. The Hong Kong government said that it had not requested the military’s assistance in the cleanup, describing it as a voluntary community activity.
