Hong Kong airport suspends flight check-ins

Hong Kong: Flight check-in services have been suspended at Hong Kong's international airport, the airport authority said on Tuesday, citing disruptions caused by anti-government protests.

Increasingly violent protests have plunged the Asian financial hub into its most serious political crisis in decades, posing a challenge to the central government in Beijing.

Protesters stage a sit-in rally at the arrival hall of the Hong Kong International Airport.Credit:AP

Hong Kong airport is one of the world’s busiest.

Protesters have shown no sign of letting up on their campaign to force Lam’s administration to respond to their demands. No new violence was reported, although the city is on edge after more than two months of near-daily and increasingly bloody confrontations between protesters and police.

Demonstrators have called for an independent inquiry into alleged police negligence and abuse of power.

Some have thrown bricks and flaming objects at police stations.

Lam said dialogue would begin only when the violence stopped. She reiterated her support for the police and said they have had to make decisions under difficult circumstances, using ‘‘the lowest level of force’’.

‘‘After the violence has been stopped, and the chaotic situation that we are seeing could subside,’’ Lam said, ‘‘I as the Chief Executive will be responsible to rebuild Hong Kong’s economy … to help Hong Kong to move on.’’

She did not elaborate on what steps her government would take towards reconciliation.

After two months, the protests have become increasingly divisive and prompted clashes across the city. Software engineer Joydeep Chakravarti, whose connecting flight to San Francisco was cancelled late on Monday, expressed frustration that he was told to leave the airport when he wanted to stay inside the terminal.

‘‘I don’t know what’s out there, so I don’t want to leave. I didn’t make any plans for Hong Kong,’’ said Chakravarti, who had a carry-on bag with laptop, charger and an extra shirt while the rest of his luggage already was checked in on his Singapore Airlines flight.

Kerry Dickinson, a traveller from South Africa, said she had trouble getting her luggage Tuesday morning. ‘‘I don’t think I will ever fly to Hong Kong again,’’ she said. On Monday, the central government in Beijing ominously characterised the protest movement as something approaching ‘‘terrorism’’ that posed an ‘‘existential threat’’ to the population. Beijing tends to define terrorism broadly, including nonviolent movements opposing government policies on the environment or Tibet, for example.

Hong Kong was promised certain democratic rights when China took over the British colony in 1997, but protesters have accused Beijing of eroding their freedoms.

Reuters/AP

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