{"id":193113,"date":"2019-08-12T15:40:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T15:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=193113"},"modified":"2019-08-14T05:49:29","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T05:49:29","slug":"hong-kong-flights-cancelled-as-thousands-protest-at-airport-after-night-of-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=193113","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong flights cancelled as thousands protest at airport after night of violence"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Sophia Yan and Katy Jong \u2013 The Daily Telegraph Aug 12, 2019<\/h1>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cIhGhE1Z8Wg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n&#8212;<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">All flights out of Hong Kong airport were cancelled on Monday after thousands of demonstrators occupied one of the world\u2019s busiest travel hubs, as Beijing denounced the protests as &#8220;terrorism&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The sudden airport shutdown came as mass demonstrations spilled into a third month, despite rising threats from the authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Monday, Beijing officials gave their third press conference in as many weeks,\u00a0a rarity for authorities in normal times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u201cRadical protesters have been frequently using extremely dangerous tools to attack the police in recent days, constituting serious criminal acts with sprouts of terrorism emerging,\u201d said Yang Guang, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, which reports to China\u2019s cabinet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Violence escalated significantly between protesters and police over the weekend, as officers shot tear gas into underground subway stations for the first time after mass demonstrations began early June. Police have made more than 600 arrests in recent days.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Protesters had already occupied the airport for days when more flooded in Monday. Some wore black eye patches, waving signs that read \u201cHong Kong is not safe,\u201d \u201cShame on the police,\u201d and \u201cAn eye for an eye,\u201d turning out to express their anger after one person thought to have been shot by a beanbag round in her right eye was hospitalised.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Stations on the city\u2019s airport express line were filled with confused passengers unable to get to the airport, many of whom were on the phone with family, friends and colleagues to sort backup travel plans, while other visitors disembarked from the train after being turned away at the airport.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Hong Kong airport is the world&#8217;s 8th busiest, with frequent departures to more than 180 cities, and a hub for travel to much of Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Roads leading to the airport were gridlocked yesterday afternoon, and a nearby hotel was flooded with people looking for a last-minute stay.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Shocking footage of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HongKong?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HongKong<\/a> riot police charging into a subway station pursuing pro-democracy activists and firing into them at point blank range. I\u2019ve seen police being provoked here but I\u2019m speechless. Carrie Lam says no police inquiry needed they\u2019re investigating themselves. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R61BytE6ft\">pic.twitter.com\/R61BytE6ft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StephenMcDonell\/status\/1160580199924281344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 11, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Many of those whose travel was interrupted expressed support for the protestes. \u201cI think China is facing a difficult time. I am glad they haven\u2019t put out tanks yet,&#8221; said James Campbell, a 26-year-old civil engineer from Sydney en route to Taipei. &#8220;I can see where these protesters are coming from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The protests have brought millions into the streets, plunging the former British colony into its most serious political crisis since being returned to Chinese rule and representing the biggest challenge ever to Xi Jinping\u2019s power as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_193115\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/A-demonstrater-is-held-by-police-outside-the-Tsim-Sha-Tsui-police-station-during-protests-jpg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-193115\" class=\"wp-image-193115\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/A-demonstrater-is-held-by-police-outside-the-Tsim-Sha-Tsui-police-station-during-protests-jpg-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/A-demonstrater-is-held-by-police-outside-the-Tsim-Sha-Tsui-police-station-during-protests-jpg-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/A-demonstrater-is-held-by-police-outside-the-Tsim-Sha-Tsui-police-station-during-protests-jpg-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/A-demonstrater-is-held-by-police-outside-the-Tsim-Sha-Tsui-police-station-during-protests-jpg-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/A-demonstrater-is-held-by-police-outside-the-Tsim-Sha-Tsui-police-station-during-protests-jpg.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-193115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A demonstrater is held by police outside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station during protests. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Demonstrations first began in opposition to a now-suspended extradition bill that would have sent people to face trial in mainland China, where Communist Party control of the courts contributes to a 99.9 per cent conviction rate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Protesters &#8211; increasingly angry as police continue to use escalating violence to disperse crowds &#8211; have now expanded their demands, calling for wider political reforms including direct leadership elections.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Let us admin HK is a police state. Riot police push down peaceful protestor on the escalator of railway station. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gycHF8E8Zo\">pic.twitter.com\/gycHF8E8Zo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Joshua Wong \u9ec3\u4e4b\u92d2 ? (@joshuawongcf) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshuawongcf\/status\/1160570201181544448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 11, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Despite many mass rallies now ending in violence as night falls with police shooting tear gas, rubber bullets, and foam rounds, broad support has continued to swell and show no signs of splintering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">After all flights were cancelled, protesters and pro-democracy lawmakers began encouraging the crowds to leave out of concern that police might fire tear gas into the airport as dozens of police vans had been spotted en route.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">But many continued to stay on, peacefully chanting in the arrivals hall, \u201cLiberate Hong Kong!\u201d and approaching arriving visitors with flyers that listed their demands and explaining the political situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StephenMcDonell\/status\/1160580199924281344\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Protesters gather peacefully in the arrivals hall, chanting \u201cLiberate Hong Kong!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=193113"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193117,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193113\/revisions\/193117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=193113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=193113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=193113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}