Protest spills into Hong Kong airport
Goal to inform world, movement leader says
HONG KONG — Protesters crowded into one of the world’s busiest airports, greeting international visitors to Hong Kong with anti-government chants Friday in an effort to raise awareness of their pro-democracy movement.
More than 1,000 demonstrators dressed in black filled the arrival hall at Hong Kong International Airport, chanting, “There are no riots, there’s only tyranny!”
For several weeks, Hong Kong residents have been protesting for democratic reforms and the withdrawal of an extradition bill that has now been suspended. Their demands include direct elections, the dissolution of the current legislature, and an investigation into alleged police brutality.
Andy Ho, one of the protest’s organizers, said its main goal “is to let more people around the world know what is actually happening in Hong Kong in recent months.”
Ahead of Friday’s action, protesters released a tongue-in-cheek video in the style of an airplane landing announcement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hong Kong,” the polished voiceover says. “It is a safety requirement that you remain alert and vigilant at all times because the police will no longer answer your calls when you have any needs.”
Another march was planned for Saturday in Yuen Long, the neighborhood where a mob of white-clad men brutally attacked people at a rail station last Sunday following a large pro-democracy rally. Dozens were injured and six arrested, with police alleging some had gang ties.
Police have refused to permit the Saturday march, citing the risk of confrontations, but protesters say they will move forward anyway. They have created posters advertising the rally as a nondenominational gathering to mourn Li Peng, a former Chinese premier who died this week. Under Hong Kong’s Public Order Ordinance, religious gatherings and funerals do not require police permission.
Li was a hard-liner who announced martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, which ended in bloodshed. Satirical posters called Saturday’s planned march a “memorial gathering” and dubbed Li “Hong Kong’s father of democracy.”