HONG KONG — Bearing batons and pepper spray, Hong Kong riot police officers clashed with anti-government protesters who crippled the airport on Tuesday for the second straight day, chaos that underscored the deepening unrest gripping the city.
The mayhem at the airport — unprecedented in the Asian financial hub known for efficiency and order — came hours after mass protests forced the airport to suspend check-ins, as it had done on Monday. The city’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, had pleaded earlier for order after days of escalating street violence.
Thousands of demonstrators had occupied parts of Hong Kong International Airport’s departures and arrivals halls on Tuesday afternoon, with some using luggage trolleys to block travelers from reaching their departure gates. The Hong Kong Airport Authority later closed check-in services and advised all passengers to leave as soon as possible. . .
Hong Kong is facing its worst political crisis since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 as a semiautonomous territory. The intensifying unrest this month has stoked widespread anxiety in the financial hub, in part because Beijing has started to warn protesters in increasingly strident terms to stand down or face consequences.
President Trump on Tuesday weighed in via tweet, saying “our intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong.”
It’s unclear what information, if any, Mr. Trump has. While Chinese security forces have conducted large-scale operations across the border from Hong Kong in Shenzen in recent days, they appear to mainly be a nationalistic show of force.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/world/asia/hong-kong-airport-protest.html
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