Hong Kong protesters force airport to cancel flights
Protesters forced Hong Kong’s airport, one of the world’s busiest, to cancel all remaining flights for the day yesterday as protests entered their 10th week.
Hong Kong International Airport said yesterday afternoon that the demonstration “seriously disrupted” airport operations and that all check-in services for departing flights for the day had been suspended.
The airport’s move came after the 10th straight weekend of protests during which Hong Kong authorities deployed more aggressive tactics, with riot police recorded beating demonstrators in subway stations and officers going undercover to infiltrate the group and make arrests.
Protesters had been at the airport since Friday and thousands were there yesterday, many holding signs with phrases such as “Hong Kong is not safe” and “Shame on police”.
In the black T-shirts and face masks that have become like their uniform, protesters at the airport handed out lists documenting alleged police violence to arriving visitors, and held up graphic images of injured protesters.
Many wore eye patches to honour a female protester who was injured in the eye.
Police, meanwhile, yesterday gave a demonstration of water-cannons bought after protests in 2014 but never used.
Last week Amnesty International warned the deployment of cannons could lead to serious injuries if misused within Hong Kong’s confined spaces.
The weekend’s violent scenes emerged as protesters used flash mobs across the city, surrounding police stations, disrupting traffic, and hurling projectiles including bricks and petrol bombs.
One officer was taken to the hospital after suffering burns in the upmarket
shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui. Mob violence broke out elsewhere.
Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets at various locations — including inside a metro station for the first time.
Dramatic videos showed riot police firing weapons at close range and beating some protesters, many of whom wore yellow hard hats and gas masks. Some 13 protesters were injured, including two in serious condition, RTHK reported, citing hospital authorities.
The protests, sparked in June by a bill easing extraditions to the mainland, have evolved into the biggest challenge to Chinese control since Britain relinquished its former colony in 1997.
The social unrest is having an increasing impact on the economy and daily life in one of the world’s most densely populated cities, raising concern that Beijing will use force to restore order. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has refused to yield to a series of demands, including that she withdraw the extradition bill and step down from her position.
Authorities in Beijing remain supportive of her Government, which has warned of an economic crisis if the demonstrations drag on.
Addressing the closing ceremony of a Chinese army training camp for college students, Lam vowed to do a better job of connecting with the young people of Hong Kong who have been the main drivers of the protests, the South China Morning Post reported.
The weekend’s protests came days after a general strike that disrupted the financial hub’s morning rush hour, leaving traffic jammed, subway lines suspended and dozens of flights cancelled. Those demonstrations also ended in tear gas and dispersal operations.