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Protest at Hong Kong Airport Forces More Than 100 Flight Cancellations | Protest at Hong Kong Airport Forces More Than 100 Flight Cancellations |
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HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s airport canceled more than 100 flights on Monday afternoon after thousands of demonstrators flooded the transportation hub, one of the world’s busiest, in a show of anger over the police’s response to protests the night before. | HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s airport canceled more than 100 flights on Monday afternoon after thousands of demonstrators flooded the transportation hub, one of the world’s busiest, in a show of anger over the police’s response to protests the night before. |
The cancellation of well over 100 flights, including many departing after 6 p.m., was a stark display of the power of the protests to disrupt the basic functioning of the Asian financial hub. The airport is a crucial connection point for air travel around Asia. | |
The protesters gathered throughout the day, eventually filling the arrivals hall, before more protesters went upstairs to the departures hall. | The protesters gathered throughout the day, eventually filling the arrivals hall, before more protesters went upstairs to the departures hall. |
Monday’s protest is in part a continuation of what had originally been a three-day sit-in by anti-government demonstrators at the airport. That protest started on Friday and was largely peaceful. | |
The latest protest came after a night in which the police fired tear gas inside a subway station and charged at protesters on an escalator in another station. Many protesters were angry that a female demonstrator was hit by a projectile in her eye. | |
The airport said in a statement that it canceled all flights except those that had already checked in or were in the air and on their way to Hong Kong. | The airport said in a statement that it canceled all flights except those that had already checked in or were in the air and on their way to Hong Kong. |
The statement said the airport’s operations had been “seriously disrupted as a result of the public assembly at the airport today.” | The statement said the airport’s operations had been “seriously disrupted as a result of the public assembly at the airport today.” |
Noel Tse, a 29-year-old nurse, said she joined the sit-in at the airport because she thought the police had acted with excessive force against demonstrators on Sunday night. | |
“As a member of Hong Kong, this incident is no longer a political issue,” Ms. Tse said. “It is a battle between right and wrong.” | |
She criticized the police for firing tear gas into a subway station and chasing protesters down an escalator in a dangerous way. “It was almost like a stampede.” |