Demonstrators plan to choke the city’s international hub in the wake of clashes with riot police on Saturday night
Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators swarmed the Hong Kong international airport on Sunday, blocking roads and filling a bus terminus, in the latest wave of political unrest to hit the city.
Less than 24 hours after protesters and police clashed in running battles on Saturday, demonstrators attempted to paralyse the airport, a major regional hub.
Protesters were streaming toward the airport, blocking off a road leading to the departure hall. Outside the airport exits, protesters were dismantling fences and building barricades. Others faced down rows of police stationed at a bus terminus on the ground floor of the airport, chanting: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution now!”
Dozens of police were patrolling the airport and blocked some exits.
Quick guide
What are the Hong Kong protests about?
Show
As part of the “stress test” launched by demonstrators, three cars along a main highway leading to the airport appeared to have broken down. Several cars were slowing down, blocking the traffic behind them.
Authorities shut service on a train linking the city to the airport, while several buses stopped running. Authorities also set up road blocks and were seen searching cars approaching the airport. Police along a bridge were taking photos of approaching cars.
The demonstrations come after running battles with police throughout Saturday night and early Sunday morning, marking the 13th weekend in a row of mass protests.
Hong Kong is facing its worst political crisis in decades, triggered by a proposed bill that would allow extradition to mainland China. Demonstrations, which started in June, have morphed into a broader political movement demanding democracy for the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
1:27
Hong Kong police seen beating protesters in clash at metro station – video
As the protests drag on with neither side showing signs of backing down, Hong Kong police have deployed harsher tactics on protesters. On Saturday, as helicopters hovered overhead, police fired rounds of tear gas and water cannons at protesters, staining them with blue dye to mark them for arrest later.
Late on Saturday, police stormed several metro stations, chasing and beating people believed to be protesters. In one incident, police stormed a train carriage in the Prince Edward train station in Kowloon, using batons to beat people in the car and spraying them with pepper spray.
Protesters have also escalated tactics, throwing petrol bombs and bricks at police, destroying cameras and ticket machines in the public transit system. Protesters built a pyre across a road outside the police headquarters in the commercial district of Wan Chai, and set it on fire.
On Sunday, the normally bustling Hong Kong was quiet and roads were empty. Several shops and malls had closed early during the previous day’s clashes.
“Day by day this doesn’t feel like Hong Kong,” said Joey Cheung, a taxi driver who was trying to get to the airport. “If Hong Kong keeps going this way, who knows what will happen. Either a police or a protester – someone is going to get killed soon, very soon.”
Last month, protesters shut down the airport for several days where they blocked travellers from reaching their flights and mobbed two men suspected of being spies, in ugly scenes for which protesters later apologised.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Usiamo tecnologie come i cookie per memorizzare e/o accedere ad informazioni sul dispositivo. Lo facciamo per migliorare l'esperienza di navigazione e mostrare annunci personalizzati. Fornire il consenso a queste tecnologie ci consente di elaborare dati quali il comportamento durante la navigazione o ID univoche su questo sito. Non fornire o ritirare il consenso potrebbe influire negativamente su alcune funzionalità e funzioni.
Functional
Sempre attivo
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.