Protesters stage sit-in at Hong Kong airport, as countries issue travel advisory
Friday, 26 Jul 20194:23 PM MYT\
HONG KONG (The Straits Times): Hundreds of protesters staged a sit-in on Friday (July 26) at Hong Kong airport, one of Asia's busiest, as more countries, including Singapore, issued travel advisories for the city.
In a bid to find new ways to spread their opposition to a contentious extradition Bill, the demonstrators held up signs with protest slogans at the arrival hall of the airport in Lantau to reach foreigners visiting the city.
They then sat on the ground of the airport's group pick-up area, with a small number shouting slogans such as “there’s only a tyranny, no rioters” and “Hong Kong ga yau”, or “come on, Hong Kong” in Cantonese.
Airport authorities said earlier operations would not be affected, but advised passengers on its website to arrive early for their flights. Extra security and staff were also deployed to guide the arriving passengers.
Airport areas where loitering were not allowed had been marked out with yellow tape, while some benches were removed to provide more space, TVB reported.
Flight attendants and other aviation industry workers also participated in the protest. The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendant's Union in a Facebook post on Thursday had called on its members to participate, reminding them to watch out for each other.
Two stewardesses who came before a flight, bringing along their luggage and uniforms to change into, said they wanted to support the movement in any way possible.
“As a Hong Konger, we cant stand seeing our city this way so we need to stand up for Hong Kong. There needs to be a change so that Hong Kong has a future,” said the flight attendant who wanted to be known only as Hannah.
Fliers designed to look like tourist pamphlets in various languages - including English, simplified Chinese and Korean - were given out to arriving passengers at the airport.
One of the pamphlets showed a map listing areas of the city that have since turned into protest hotspots, including the Central Government Office, Tamar Park and Mongkok. "Here are some sites that best represent Hong Kong, where you can experience the determination of the anti-extradition Bill movement," it read.
Some protesters were seen using a luggage trolley to push a signboard aimed at Spanish-speaking tourists.
Recent mass rallies have started out peacefully but escalated into violence later at night after smaller groups of protesters stay behind to clash with the police.
At Beijing's liaison office in the city, the scene of a street battle on Sunday, police stood guard and large water barriers were placed outside the complex as part of ramped-up security measures, RTHK reported.
The rally on Sunday saw protesters marching past the designated end point in Wanchai, heading west of Hong Kong Island towards Sai Ying Pun, where they vandalised Beijing's liaison office.
Riot police later fired 55 rounds of tear gas, along with rubber bullets and foam rounds to disperse protesters.
As the street battle raged, about 30km away in the rural Yuen Long district, mobs dressed in white and armed with sticks and batons attacked passers-by at the metro station.
Forty-five people were injured in the incident and police have since arrested 12, some of whom have gang affiliations.
Hong Kong's police have also cited last weekend's violence as a reason for their objection to a rally in Yuen Long planned for Saturday.
They said that online calls for retaliation against villagers in the area - where Sunday's attackers are believed to have come from - have led law enforcement to believe that the proposed rally could end in violence.
The chairman of a rural committee representing villagers in Yuen Long has also warned protesters not to storm villages and damage ancestral halls.
"We won't make trouble, but we won't walk away from trouble," said Mr Ching Chan-ming, adding that villagers will protect their homes if provoked.
Organiser Max Chung told The Straits Times that he would be appealing against the decision on Friday, but is not confident of a positive outcome.
Online, anti-government protesters are suggesting creative alternatives to a mass gathering in Yuen Long to circumvent police rules. These range from a mass shopping day to a "memorial service" for former Chinese premier Li Peng, who died on Monday.
In an advisory issued in the wee hours of Friday, Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry encouraged travellers to avoid the Hong Kong airport from 1pm on Friday, as well as Yuen Long on Saturday.
"Protests which are meant to be peaceful may still have the potential to turn violent with little or no notice," the ministry said.
Singapore joins several other countries, including Canada, Japan and South Korea, which have issued such advisories, while Ireland is the first country to issue a travel warning for Hong Kong.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2019/07/26/protesters-stage-sit-in-at-hong-kong-airport-as-countries-issue-travel-advisory/#KHlEW8iEbeLmE4Tp.99
