HK protests spread to airport
More than 1,000 protesters calling for democracy and some chanting “free Hong Kong” converged on the Chinese-ruled city’s airport as Singapore advised its travellers to avoid protest areas in the territory.
Hong Kong airport authorities said operations wouldn’t be affected, but advised passengers to arrive early given the risk of disruption.
The former British colony, which returned to China in 1997, is embroiled in its worst political crisis for decades after two months of increasingly violent protests that have posed one of the gravest populist challenges to Communist Party rulers in Beijing.
The demonstrations, mushrooming up almost daily, saw the defacement of China’s main representative office last weekend, triggering warnings from Beijing this was an attack on China’s sovereignty.
More protests are expected with demonstrators outraged at an attack on Sunday at a train station by armed men who police sources say included some with triad backgrounds. Some 45 people were wounded.
Hong Kong returned to China under a “one country, two systems” formula, guaranteeing its freedoms, including the freedom to protest not enjoyed on the mainland, for at least 50 years.
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