Calm returns to Hong Kong airport. Beijing cries "terrorism"
A High Court injunction allows protesters to stay in only two small areas in the arrivals area. Yesterday risk of violence and bloodshed risked amid clashes and in the fray, a policeman even pulled out a handgun. The Hong Kong and Macao Liaison Office calls the demonstrators who blocked departures yesterday "terrorists". Carrie Lam responsible for destuction of "One country, two systems" principle .
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Calm is returning to Hong Kong airport after a night in which anti-extradition demonstrators and police clashed in the departure area and other points. The airport authorities succeeded in obtaining an injunction from the High Court allowing demonstrators to stay only in two demarcated areas of arrivals.
Yesterday's clashes began when some young people tried to block the check-in of some passengers and argued with some of them, considering them to be "spies" or policemen disguised as protesters (as happened in the past). One of the passengers was a journalist with the Global Times, a semi-official newspaper in Beijing, which has been pursuing a campaign of denigration and offense towards the Hong Kong demonstrations.
The police intervened and in the ensuing fray blood and violence were risked, when a policeman even pulled out a handgun.
The occupation of the arrivals area at Hong Kong airport began quietly five days ago. The news of the police violence and the rejection of dialogue by the head of the executive increased the frustration among demonstrators who en masse tried to occupy the departure area, leading to the closure of the airport for the last two days.
The protesters' aim is to make their struggle "for democracy" heard in the world, as they explain on social media. On the contrary, for Beijing, it is a clear sign that the youth of Hong Kong are being manipulated by "external forces".
Yesterday's incidents led to an increase in China's allegations against protesters. The Hong Kong and Macao Liaison Office called the demonstrators who blocked departures yesterday "terrorists".
There are those who fear that this inflamatory charge will open the door to Chinese armed intervention in the territory. Even the press conference held yesterday by Carrie Lam, the head of the executive stressed that the demonstrations undermine the "one country, two systems" principle, on which the liberal style is based - different from mainland China - in Hong Kong. This emphasis could be a preparation for the army's request for intervention. Several comments on social media instead accuse Carrie Lam of having "destroyed the One Country, two systems principle" "to be absolutely at the service of China and not of the population of Hong Kong. "The fact that they are not looking for any reconciliation - one young man told AsiaNews - shows that she is only a puppet in the hands of Beijing and that she only does what they order".
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19/08/2019 11:25
16/08/2019 13:47
