HK airport faces more protest turbulence
Canada suspends staff travel to mainland China
HONG KONG (Reuters) — Hong Kong braced for multiple anti-government demonstrations and a “stress test” of the airport this weekend, as weeks of protest in the Chinese-ruled city showed no signs of let-up amid rising tension between China and some Western nations.
“Go to the airport by different means, including MTR, airport bus, taxi, bike and private car to increase pressure on airport transport,” protest organizers wrote online ahead of a protest this weekend.
The airport, built on reclaimed land around an offshore island and reached by train or a highway over interlocking bridges, was forced to close last week and hundreds of flights were canceled or rescheduled when protesters and police clashed.
The Airport Authority published a half-page advertisement in major newspapers urging young people to “love Hong Kong” and said it opposed acts that blocked the airport, adding that it would keep working to maintain smooth operations.
Hong Kong’s high court extended an order restricting protests at the airport. Some activists had apologized for last week’s airport turmoil.
The protests, originally over a nowsuspended bill that would have allowed extraditions to China, have plunged the former British colony into its worse crisis since its return to China in 1997 and pose a major challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The unrest has widened into calls for greater freedom, fuelled by worries about the erosion of rights guaranteed under the “one country, two systems” formula, adopted after the handover, such as an independent judiciary and the right to protest.
The Canadian consulate said it had suspended travel to mainland China for local staff, just days after an employee of the city’s British consulate was confirmed to have been detained in China.
China has said that Simon Cheng, the consulate employee, was detained in the border city of Shenzhen neighboring Hong Kong. Beijing has accused Britain and other Western countries of meddling in its affairs in Hong Kong.
Canada’s latest travel advisory yesterday warned that increased screening of travellers’ digital devices had been reported at border crossings between mainland China and Hong Kong.
Yesterday’s protests included a march by accountants and a “Baltic Chain” in which protesters will join hands across different districts in the evening.
“A lot of bosses are apolitical. However, politics comes to you even when you try to avoid it,” Kenneth Leung, a lawmaker for the accountancy “functional constituency,” told protesters.