The once peaceful demonstrations to Beijing’s growing influence over the territory’s government has become progressively more violent over the past five months, forcing continued school and business closures and wreaking havoc on public transportation services. The most recent protests this past weekend have left HK at the brink of a total meltdown with buildings set ablaze and streets left stained with bloodshed. Most HK residents are left divided as they support the protests on the one hand but worry that sustained violence is beginning to have a drastic impact on their daily livelihood, particularly after the territory officially slipped into recession in the third quarter. Protestors are becoming increasingly frustrated with what they believe to be an “unjust police response” and so far, Chief Executive Carrie Lam has done nothing as promised with regards to investigating police brutality. With the government refusing to establish an independent inquiry at this time, most consensus points towards an escalation of violent demonstrations as the base case scenario with any form of peaceful compromise over the near-term representing the adverse.