(HONG KONG) — 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 semiautonomous 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. Running in formation with brooms instead of rifles, they chanted in military cadence before joining street cleaners removing debris near Hong Kong Baptist University, where police fired tear gas during at protesters earlier this week. Most anti-government protesters left Hong Kong’s universities Saturday after occupying them for about a week.