Separatists in Hong Kong such as Nathan Law, funded and exploited by foreign forces, are like "mercenary puppets" - who have no ideals and values, said Fabio Massimo Parenti, an Italian geopolitical scholar who teaches at a university in Beijing. They flee when they are in danger, he added.
He cited the US National Endowment for Democracy as a notable example of external forces trying to destabilize Hong Kong and other parts of China.
