Pro-democracy lawmaker attacked at Hong Kong airport

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s youngest legislator Nathan Law was attacked by anti-independence protesters at the city’s airport late Sunday after flying back from a political forum in Taiwan.

Law, 23, was met by a crowd of angry pro-Beijing demonstrators in the arrivals hall, shouting, throwing liquid in his face and trying to hit him as police struggled to bundle him through.

It came after Law and other highprofile Hong Kong pro- democracy activists, including Joshua Wong, had been greeted by protests in Taipei as they arrived for the forum on Saturday.

The two- day event was aimed at linking democracy movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Law is one of a new wave of legislators who supports the idea of self- determination for semiautonomous Hong Kong — a notion that has infuriated Beijing.

At one point during the attack at Hong Kong airport on Sunday, television footage showed Law stumbling down a staircase after a water bottle was thrown at him.

Protesters shouted: ‘Trip and die!’ and one called Law a ‘traitor’.

They also held banners that read: ‘Get out of Hong Kong’ and ‘Destroy Hong Kong independence’.

Two people were arrested, according to local media reports. Police were not able to immediately confirm any arrests. — AFP