Protesters occupy the departure hall of the Hong Kong International Airport during a demonstration on August 12, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
Hong Kong International Airport, one of the world’s busiest terminals, has canceled all departures for the remainder of the day, citing serious disruption due to protests.
The airport authority said Monday it had canceled all flights not yet checked in by the afternoon. Around 5,000 anti-government protesters had been demonstrating at the airport for a fourth day on Monday.
Some activists had reportedly moved to the departure area and caused disruption, according to the Hong Kong police. The police declined to say if it would move to clear the demonstrators.
The authority said in a statement: “Airport operations at Hong Kong International Airport have been seriously disrupted as a result of the public assembly at the airport today.”
“The traffic to the airport is very congested, and the car park spaces at all car parks are already full. Members of the public are advised not to come to the airport,” it added. It later advised all passengers to leave the terminal building as soon as possible.
Two months of protests
The increasingly violent protests since June have plunged the Asian financial hub into its most serious crisis in decades and are one of the biggest popular challenges to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
Despite the intense police response and a toughening stance from China, the movement that began more than two months ago in opposition to a bill allowing extradition to the mainland still seems to enjoy broad support in the city of more than 7 million people.
The unrest in Hong Kong — a former British colony that was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 — has frequently crippled its transportation system. The rallies have snowballed into a democracy movement, with some even demanding full autonomy from Beijing.
Hong Kong-carrier Cathay Pacific advised customers to postpone non-essential travel and said they should not proceed to the airport. In a statement it said: “While disruption events like these can change significantly and at short notice, rest assured we are doing everything we can in advance to minimize the impact to customers.” It added that the cancellation period for Hong Kong flights will last until Tuesday morning, according to Reuters.
Airport Authority Hong Kong also said it was working with airlines on rescheduling flights from 6.00 a.m. local time on August 13, with flight movements expected to be affected.
Eighth busiest airport
Scores of protesters were arrested over the weekend across the city, with a reported 600 in total being detained since the unrest began. Meanwhile, a Chinese official in Beijing reportedly claimed that signs of “terrorism” were emerging from the protests.
“Radical Hong Kong protesters have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers,” a spokesman for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office told a briefing Monday, according to Chinese state media. “The first signs of terrorism are starting to appear.”
Hong Kong International is the eighth busiest airport in the world and handles over 72 million passengers a year, according to the latest statistics by Airports Council International.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/hong-kong-airport-cancels-all-flights-over-protests.html
Li Kah Shing's 黄台之瓜 Melon Talk went viral on Chinese social media and then gets banned!!!!
• In a statement, he says ‘the melon of Huangtai cannot bear the picking again’ – meaning something has suffered so much that further attack would ruin it
• It didn’t go unnoticed in the mainland, with hashtag #LiKa-shingSpeakingOut one of the most searched-for phrases on Weibo – until it was disabled
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3023037/melon-huangtai-hong-kong-business-leader-li-ka-shing
Trump is a smart bastard, fancy using tactics employed by the Chinese against the Chinese themselves....... 挾天子以令諸侯！
Donald Trump has spoken up on protests in Hong Kong!!!! He wants to meet 习近平!!!!
Some Singaporean undergrads pull out of exchange programme to Hong Kong universities amid unrest
SINGAPORE — Some students at the Singapore universities who had been planning to go on exchange to Hong Kong have put their plans on hold following the outbreak of protests in the city.
The protests escalated over the weekend, forcing the cancellation of all flights at Hong Kong International Airport on Monday (Aug 12). Although the airport reopened on Tuesday, protesters continued to occupy the airport and many flights remained cancelled or delayed.
Two universities here reported a small number of students pulling out of their exchange programmes to Hong Kong, while one said that all its students were going ahead despite the unrest.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) told TODAY in an email response on Tuesday that of the 130 students who are expected to participate in its student exchange programme to Hong Kong, fewer than 10 have withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) said that so far, three students have requested to withdraw from their exchange programme to Hong Kong. The university said that it typically has more than 40 students going to the city on exchange each academic year.
An NTU spokesperson said that these students may re-apply to go to Hong Kong for their exchange programme during the next recruitment exercise in November.
The Singapore Management University (SMU) said that of its 17 students headed to Hong Kong for their exchange programme in the coming semester, none had indicated their intention to cancel or postpone their trips as of last Friday.
“We will continue to monitor the situation, maintain contact with our partners in Hong Kong, and take guidance from the travel advisories released by (Singapore's) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),” said an SMU spokesperson.
Full story at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/some-singaporean-students-cancel-their-plans-study-hong-kong-amid-unrest
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam fights back tears as she warns protesters they are pushing city ‘into an abyss’
Hong Kong’s leader has warned protesters they are pushing the city “into an abyss” by attacking its institutions, in what she called attempts to “destroy the rule of law”.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the mass sit-in at Hong Kong International Airport, which forced the cancellation of all Monday flights from 4pm, as well as police station sieges and widespread road blocks during protests, had made the city no longer safe.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday morning before reconvening the Executive Council, her de facto cabinet, Lam said: “Hong Kong is seriously wounded. It will take a long time to recover.”
She asked protesters whether they wanted to “push Hong Kong into an abyss”.
In a direct appeal to demonstrators, she said: “Let’s set aside differences and spend one minute to look at our city and our home. Could we bear to push it into an abyss where everything will perish?
“We need to object to violence and maintain the rule of law ... When this all calms down, we will start to have sincere dialogues and rebuild harmony.”
“From what happened in the past week, I am afraid that Hong Kong’s reputation, as a safe society that respects the rule of law, will be in a very dangerous [situation],” she said. “Hong Kong, as an open, free, inclusive, and economically stable city, will also suffer from all kinds of problems.”
More at https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3022536/hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-fights-back-tears-she-warns
A Tiananmen Solution in Hong Kong?
When there are no good options, leaders must choose the least bad one. China’s government may loathe the idea of making concessions to the Hong Kong protesters, but considering the catastrophic consequences of a military crackdown, that is what it must do.
WASHINGTON, DC – The crisis in Hong Kong appears to be careening toward a devastating climax. With China’s government now using rhetoric reminiscent of that which preceded the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters – and, indeed, its democracy – could well be in grave danger.
For more than two months, Hong Kong has been beset by protests. Triggered by a proposed law to allow the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China, the demonstrations have since developed into broader calls to safeguard – or, perhaps more accurately, restore – the semi-autonomous territory’s democracy, including by strengthening state (especially police) accountability.
As the unrest drags on, the Chinese government’s patience is wearing thin – and its warnings are growing more ominous. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison in Hong Kong is, in the words of its commander Chen Daoxiang, “determined to protect national sovereignty, security, stability, and the prosperity of Hong Kong.” To drive the point home, a promotional video showing Chinese military officers in action was released along with the statement.
Yang Guang, a spokesperson for the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, has echoed this sentiment, warning the protesters – whom he calls “criminals” – not to “take restraint for weakness.” He then reiterated the government’s “firm resolve” to “safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.”
Zhang Xiaoming, the director of the office, then took matters a step further, declaring that China’s government “has sufficient methods and enough powerful means to quell all sorts of likely unrest (dongluan).” This came just two months after China’s defense minister argued that China’s stability since the Tiananmen crackdown proved that the government had made the “correct” choice.
Increasingly harsh warnings against Hong Kong’s protesters point not just to a hardening of positions, but also to the ascendance of figures in the Chinese government who favor asserting total control over the territory. And they have been reflected in the response from the police, which has been deploying rubber bullets and tear gas with rising frequency. Hundreds have been arrested, and 44 have been charged with “rioting.”
Yet, far from being deterred, the protesters are challenging the Chinese government with increasing resolve. In July, they vandalized the outside of the Chinese government’s liaison office in the city center. Last week, they mounted a general strike that nearly paralyzed the city, one of Asia’s most important commercial hubs. Perhaps counter-intuitively, this radicalization has come alongside broadening support for the movement, with members of the middle class – such as lawyers and civil servants – openly joining the cause.
With their stark warnings having no effect, China’s leaders may well be sensing that the best – or even the only – way to restore their authority in Hong Kong is by force, though President Xi Jinping may wait until after the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1 to act. But, whether now or in two months, a Tiananmen-style crackdown is not the answer.
For starters, Hong Kong’s 31,000-strong police force is not up to the task of carrying out such a crackdown. Not only does it lack the manpower; its officers may refuse to use deadly force. After all, there is a big difference between firing rubber bullets at a crowd and murdering civilians. This means that China would have to deploy the local PLA garrison or transfer tens of thousands of paramilitary soldiers (the People’s Armed Police) from the mainland.
Hong Kong’s residents would almost certainly treat Chinese government forces as invaders, and mount the fiercest possible resistance. The resulting clashes – which would likely produce high numbers of civilian casualties – would mark the official end of the “one country, two systems” arrangement, with China’s government forced to assert direct and full control over Hong Kong’s administration.
With the Hong Kong government’s legitimacy destroyed, the city would instantly become ungovernable. Civil servants would quit their jobs in droves, and the public would continue to resist. Hong Kong’s complex transit, communications, and logistics systems would prove easy targets for defiant locals determined to cause major disruptions.
After the Tiananmen crackdown, the Communist Party of China’s ability to reinstitute control rested not only on the presence of tens of thousands of PLA troops, but also on the mobilization of the Party’s members. In Hong Kong, where the CPC has only a limited organizational presence (officially, it claims to have none at all), this would be impossible. And because the vast majority of Hong Kong’s residents are employed by private businesses, China cannot control them as easily as mainlanders who depend on the state for their livelihoods.
The economic consequences of such an approach would be dire. Some CPC leaders may think that Hong Kong, which now accounts for only 3% of Chinese GDP, is economically expendable. But the city’s world-class legal and logistical services and sophisticated financial markets, which channel foreign capital into China, mean that its value vastly exceeds its output.
If Chinese soldiers storm the city, an immediate exodus of expats and elites with foreign passports and green cards will follow, and Western businesses will relocate en masse to other Asian commercial hubs. Hong Kong’s economy – a critical bridge between China and the rest of the world – would almost instantly collapse.
When there are no good options, leaders must choose the least bad one. China’s government may loathe the idea of making concessions to the Hong Kong protesters, but considering the catastrophic consequences of a military crackdown, that is what it must do.
Source: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/hong-kong-protests-crackdown-tiananmen-by-minxin-pei-2019-08
It is unimaginable that Hong Kong International airport, one of the busiest airports in the world is now being held 'hostage' by protesters. This spells big trouble for Hong Kong. Wealthy Hongkies will now bail from Hong Kong for sure, while major investors will contemplate fleeing to other regional economies. HK is no longer a safe place to stay nor to conduct business. If the protesters continue to stranglehold Hong Kong's business arteries and further disrupt the economy, Hong Kong shall implode soon enough.
Oh dear......looks like I need to postpone my trip to dim sum wonderland. :(
HONGKIES ALL GONE BERSERK..........