China ‘moving troops to Hong Kong border’
... as riot police storm airport where flights are axed AGAIN
ChINA is moving troops to the border with hong Kong, according to US intelligence reports.
Amid intensifying pro-democracy protests in the former British colony, US President Donald Trump appealed for calm yesterday after a further day of violent clashes.
he tweeted: ‘Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese government is moving troops to the border with hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!’
Chinese state and social media has screened video of the country’s security forces gathering across the border opposite the international financial hub, which has been rocked by unrest for ten weeks.
Armoured troop carriers were reported to be heading to the nearby Chinese city of Shenzhen. The prospect of a military confrontation against civilian protesters will inevitably recall the brutal suppression of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989, which left hundreds – possibly thousands – dead.
Ominously, Beijing has characterised the hong Kong protest movement as being akin to ‘terrorism’.
Yesterday, Mr Trump said: ‘It’s a very tricky situation. I think it will work out and I hope it works out, for liberty. I hope it works out for everybody, including China. I hope it works out peacefully. I hope nobody gets hurt. I hope nobody gets killed.’
Chaos erupted at hong Kong’s airport yesterday as riot police moved into the terminal to confront protesters who shut down operations for the second day. Officers armed with pepper spray and batons clashed with protesters who used luggage carts to barricade entrances to the airport terminal.
At one stage, black-clad protesters, many in masks, detained two men they suspected of being undercover police agents.
One man was tied to a luggage trolley by demonstrators and struck in the face.
After searching his belongings, they found a blue T-shirt often worn by pro-Beijing supporters that they said was evidence he was a spy, and showed off his passport. Both men were eventheir tually released and given medical treatment. It came as the authorities were forced to cancel all remaining flights and passengers were advised not to come to the airport, one of the world’s busiest.
Many have been forced to stay in the city while airlines struggle to find other ways to get them to destinations. Grace Bendal, a 43-year-old contractor from the Philippines, came to the airport for the second day in a row to discover flights were cancelled.
She spent the weekend in hong Kong with her children, who should have returned to primary school. She said they had already missed two days in class and the extra day in hong Kong had cost her £330.
Speaking of the protesters, Mrs Bendal said: ‘I cannot blame them, because they are fighting for something. But then it’s not right if we are the ones suffering. So I hope they give us a chance to go home.’
Kerry Dickinson, from South Africa, said: ‘I don’t think I will ever fly to hong Kong again.’
The airport disruptions marked the escalation of ten weeks of demonstrations.
Many hong Kong residents have railed against what they see as an increasing erosion of the freedoms they were promised in 1997 when mainland China took over what had been a British colony.
hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam said the chaos and violence had placed the city on a ‘path of no return’.
The demonstrators want Mrs Lam to step down and the scrapping of proposed legislation that would allow some suspects in hong Kong to be sent to mainland China where critics say they could face torture and unfair or politically charged trials.
Police have arrested more than 700 protesters since June.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said ‘mobsters’ were fuelling ‘an atmosphere of terror’ in hong Kong.
In addition to Chinese troops at the border, the People’s Liberation Army has a garrison in hong Kong itself.
‘I hope nobody gets killed’