Protesters leave Hong Kong airport but say they’ll return
HONG KONG — Frenzied mob violence Tuesday against two men protesters suspected of being spies from mainland China marked the second day of pro- democracy demonstrations that have caused mass cancellations and disruptions in Hong Kong’s busy airport.
Calm eventually returned, with most of the protesters leaving the airport hours after officers, armed with pepper spray and swinging batons, tried to enter the terminal, fighting with demonstrators who barricaded entrances with luggage carts. Riot police clashed briefly with the demonstrators, who said they planned to return to the airport early Wednesday.
More than 100 flights were cancelled Tuesday, the fifth consecutive day that protesters occupied the airport. Airlines were still working through a backlog of more than 200 flights from Monday when the airport announced in the afternoon that checkin processes would once again be suspended.
“Democracy is a good thing,” said signs that appeared to be aimed at mainland Chinese and foreign travelers. Many signs also contained apologies for the disruption to travelers: “We stand here to obstruct, only for one single reason. We love and care for Hong Kong. We hope you will understand. Sorry.”
The burst of violence included protesters beating up at least two men they suspected of being undercover agents and came the same day Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader warned that the demonstrators had pushed events onto a “path of no return,” highlighting the hardening positions on both sides.
Police have acknowledged using “decoy” officers, and the violence followed weekend sightings of men dressed like demonstrators — in black and wearing face masks — appearing to arrest protesters.
In both instances, angry demonstrators pushed past people trying to hold them back and attacked the men, binding their wrists together and beating them to the ground. The two were eventually taken away by paramedics.
Police said they arrested five people for unlawful assembly, assaulting police officers and possessing weapons. Officials said in a statement that some protesters detained, harassed and assaulted a traveler and a journalist, and obstructed ambulance workers from taking the two men to the hospital. They said other protesters attacked a police officer and snatched a baton from him.
The disruptions escalated a summer of demonstrations aimed at what many Hong Kongers see as an increasing erosion of the freedoms they were promised in 1997 when China took over what was a British colony.
Early protests were near government offices. However, the airport protest has had a direct impact on business travel and tourism. Analysts said it could make foreign investors think twice about Hong Kong, which has long prided itself as being Asia’s leading business city with convenient regional air links.
Beijing has ominously characterized the movement as something approaching “terrorism” that poses an “existential threat.”