Hong Kong airport obtains injunction to stop protesters obstructing operations as flights resume

HONG KONG, Aug 14, 2019, Reuters, Bloomberg. Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said on Wednesday (Aug 14) that it had obtained an interim injunction to restrain people from “unlawfully and wilfully obstructing” the operations of the city’s international airport as flights resume, reported The Straits Times.

“Persons are also restrained from attending or participating in any demonstration or protest or public order event in the airport other than in the area designated by the airport authority,” it said.

The airport resumed normal operations on Wednesday, rescheduling hundreds of flights that had been disrupted over the past two days as protesters clashed with riot police in a deepening crisis in the Chinese-controlled city.

Ten weeks of increasingly violent clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters angered by a perceived erosion of freedoms have plunged the Asian financial hub into its worst crisis since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

About 30 protesters remained at the airport early on Wednesday while workers scrubbed it clean of blood and debris from the night.

Check-in counters reopened to queues of weary travellers who had waited overnight for their flights.

It was unclear whether the airport would again be targeted later on Wednesday, according to AFP.

Police condemned violent acts by protesters overnight and said that on Wednesday, a large group had “harassed and assaulted a visitor and a journalist”. Five people were detained, bringing the total number of people arrested since the protests began in June to more than 600, police said.

Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said on Tuesday that operations at the city’s international airport had been seriously disrupted, as riot police used pepper spray to disperse thousands of black-clad protesters.

The Hang Seng stock index fell to a seven-month low on Tuesday and embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the city had been pushed into a state of “panic and chaos”.

China condemned some protesters for using dangerous tools to attack police, saying the clashes showed “sprouts of terrorism”. The protests represent one of the biggest challenges for Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.

Demonstrators say they are fighting the erosion of the “one country, two systems” arrangement that enshrined some autonomy for Hong Kong when it returned to China in 1997. The protests began in opposition to a now-suspended Bill that would have allowed the extradition of suspects for trial in mainland China, but have swelled into wider calls for democracy.

Check-in operations at the airport were suspended late on Tuesday afternoon, a day after an unprecedented shutdown. Thousands of peaceful protesters swarmed the arrivals and departures halls earlier on Tuesday, chanting, singing and waving banners.

However, some protesters used luggage trolleys to blockade the doors to customs checkpoints. Protesters also scuffled with police later in the evening and several police vehicles were blocked amid heated scenes, according to Reuters witnesses.

This is the first time police have shown up at the airport during multiple days of sit-in protests, which have been largely peaceful.

The interruptions follow a weekend of violence that saw police fire tear gas into a subway station and shoot rubber bullets at close range.

Mrs Lam warned on Tuesday that the city risked sliding into an “abyss” as continuing unrest weighed on the economy.

A US State Department official urged China to adhere to the agreements it made when taking control of Hong Kong from the Britain and allow the city to “exercise a high degree of autonomy” while respecting freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

The statement – from an official who asked not to be identified – was the most forceful to date from the United States and followed a tweet from President Donald Trump, who said reports from American intelligence agencies show China is moving troops to its border with Hong Kong.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Mr Trump was referring to new developments or mobilisations that have been underway for the past week.

“Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong,” he said in a tweet. “Everyone should be calm and safe!”

Demonstrators who have been protesting for the past 10 weeks against Beijing’s growing influence in the special administrative region targeted the international airport for a second day on Tuesday.

Thousands of black-clad protesters jammed the terminal chanting, singing and waving banners.

Scuffles broke out in the evening after an injured man was held by a group of protesters. Some claimed he was an undercover mainland Chinese agent and initially refused to let him leave.

Medics, however, bundled him onto a stretcher and forced their way through jeering throngs to an ambulance. Several police vehicles were blocked by protesters and riot police moved in amid chaotic scenes, using pepper spray to keep people back. A policeman pulled out a gun at one point but did not fire.

Protesters also barricaded some passageways in the airport with luggage trolleys, metal barriers and other objects.

Others clambered onto check-in counters as the protesters appeared to control part of the airport for a short while. At least two protesters were taken away by police.

Another mainland Chinese man was held and tied down by protesters at the airport after they thought he was posing as a reporter. The editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times newspaper, Mr Hu Xijin, tweeted that the man was a journalist with the paper. The journalist was later taken away by ambulance.