Hong Kong cancels all flights as Beijing slams ‘ signs of terrorism’
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s government moved to shut down the international airport Monday, canceling all flights as thousands of protesters occupied the terminals in a peaceful sit- in.
Protesters chanted “Reclaim Hong Kong! Revolution of our times!” as travelers carrying backpacks or pushing suitcases tried to figure out where to go.
The Airport Authority said flights were canceled because large numbers of protesters were “disrupting” operations. The shutdown began at 4 p. m., just as a spokesman for the State Council’s highest Hong Kong affairs office in Beijing said protesters showed “signs of terrorism.”
“These violent, illegal actions must be met with a determined legal crackdown, with no softening of hands or any sign of mercy,” said the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau affairs spokesman, Yang Guang, accusing protesters of throwing gasoline bombs. “Hong Kong has arrived at a critical point.”
The airport authority stopped all check- in procedures and canceled all flights that were not already boarded or en route to Hong Kong International Airport, one of the busiest flight terminals in the world.
Protesters were in their fourth consecutive day of protests at the airport, aiming to bring international attention to a movement against police violence and unwanted Chinese influence over Hong Kong that has inflamed the city for 10 weeks.
About 700 protesters have been arrested in what began as peaceful protests against an extradition law that critics saw as a threat to Hong Kong’s rule of law and freedom of speech. Those protests have become chaotic, near- daily confrontations between police, protesters, local residents and organized gangs on the streets.
Escalating violence between police and protesters has galvanized the movement, with Monday’s airport rally spontaneously called late Sunday night after police fired large amounts of tear gas in clashes across Hong Kong, beat protesters in subway stations, and shot one woman in the eye with a bean bag bullet while she was performing first aid.
Police also dressed up as protesters, wearing black clothing and yellow hard hats as a disguise, to surprise and arrest protesters. One widely shared video shows an undercover policeman grinding a protester’s face into the ground, blood pooling around his jaw as he cries that his teeth are falling out.
Protesters filled both arrival and departures terminals of the airport Monday, holding up signs against police violence and chanting, “Dirty cops, return her eye.” Many said they’d chosen the airport as a protest site because police were less likely to fire tear gas and charge protesters in the presence of international travelers.
One small police stall at the airport was covered with post- its and signs reading, “Hong Kong police kills citizens” and “Hong Kong is no longer safe.”
“An eye for an eye” was scrawled on a wall.