Hundreds of flights out of Hong Kong have been cancelled after Monday’s demonstrations as the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, warned that violence will push Hong Kong “down a path of no return”.
Thousands of passengers remained stranded on Tuesday after one of the world’s busiest airports shut down in a dramatic response to Monday’s mass demonstrations. Further protests are expected on Tuesday and passengers have been urged to check with their airline before they travel.
At a media conference on Tuesday, Lam said: “Violence, no matter if it’s using violence or condoning violence, will push Hong Kong down a path of no return, will plunge Hong Kong society into a very worrying and dangerous situation.
“The situation in Hong Kong in the past week has made me very worried that we have reached this dangerous situation,” she added.
Flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said it had scrapped more than 200 flights to and from the airport on Tuesday, and South China Morning Post put the expected total number at more than 300.
After demonstrators flooded the city’s terminals on Monday, the airport halted flights although the exact trigger was not clear as protesters have peacefully occupied the arrivals hall for the past five days.
Prime ministers including Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Australia’s Scott Morrison have voiced their concern at the handling of the unprecedented political crisis in the wake of the latest airport protest.
Morrison rejected China’s description of the protesters as “terrorists”, saying: “That is certainly not the rhetoric that I would use to describe those events.” He called for calm and for Lam to listen to protesters’ concerns about a “very very serious” situation.
Earlier, Trudeau said he was extremely concerned about events in Hong Kong, which is home to about 300,000 Canadian citizens, and urged Chinese authorities to handle the protests with tact.
“We see the need for de-escalation of tensions, we need to see the local authorities listening to the very serious concerns brought forward by Chinese citizens,” said Trudeau, whose country is locked in a trade and diplomatic dispute with Beijing.
"We are calling for peace, for order, for dialogue … we certainly call on China to be very careful and very respectful in how it deals with people who have legitimate concerns in Hong Kong,” Trudeau told a televised news conference in Toronto.
A senior official in the administration of Donald Trump urged “all sides” to avoid violence in Hong Kong. “Societies are best served when diverse political views are respected and can be freely and peacefully expressed,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.
The unprecedented cancellation of all flights on Monday followed the fourth consecutive day of protests at the airport and amid increasingly threatening statements from Beijing. A Chinese official said “terrorism” was emerging in the city, while in Hong Kong authorities demonstrated water cannon for use in crowd control.
The protests are in their 10th week with confrontations between demonstrators and police growing more violent. Rights groups and democracy activists have accused police of using increasingly excessive force. At least 40 people were treated in hospital after clashes on Sunday, including a woman who was reportedly hit with a beanbag round and could lose an eye.
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