Hong Kong airport on alert ahead of fresh wave of protests (updated)

Sun Hung Kai & Co

09/08/2019 04:26

(Adds comments from Hong Kong business sector)
    HONG KONG, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Airport Authority
said on Friday only departing passengers with travel documents
will be allowed to enter the terminal as anti-government
activists gear up for a three-day rally to raise awareness among
tourists entering the city. 
    The move comes as officials confirmed on Friday that a
police commander who oversaw pro-democracy demonstrations that
roiled the former British colony in 2014 has been recalled to
help deal with protests that have plunged the financial hub into
crisis.
    Former deputy police commissioner Alan Lau Yip-shing has
been appointed to help handle large-scale public order events
and steer operations, including activities to mark the 70th
anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on
Oct. 1, the government said in a statement.
    Reuters reported late on Thursday, citing sources, that Lau
had been recalled in a move that suggests the government lacks
confidence in the capacity of the current police leadership to
manage the response to protests.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2540ND
    Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is
embroiled in its worst political crisis for decades after two
months of increasingly violent protests that have posed one of
the gravest populist challenges to Chinese leader Xi Jinping
since he took office in 2012.
    The escalating cycle of violence has prompted travel
warnings from countries including the United States and
Australia. 
    Activists plan to converge on the airport on Friday
afternoon, with more protests planned across the city at the
weekend.
    "To maintain the smooth process of the departure procedures
of passengers and the terminal operation, only departure
passengers with an air ticket or boarding pass for the next 24
hours and a valid travel document, or airport staff with
identity proofs will be allowed to enter to the check-in aisles
at Terminal 1," the Airport Authority said in a statement.
    What started as an angry response to a now-suspended
extradition bill has grown to include demands for greater
democracy, the resignation of Hong Kong's chief executive,
Carrie Lam, and even keeping mainland Chinese tourists out of
the city.
    The extradition bill would have allowed defendants to be
sent to the mainland for trial.
    The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong said on
Thursday that it condemed the escalating violence and hoped the
city regained peace and order as soon as possible.
    Signed by 17 of the city's big property developers including
Henderson Land Development  0012.HK , New World Development
 0017.HK , and Sun Hung Kai Properties  0086.HK , it was the
first official statement made by the group.
    "The Hong Kong community has been suffering from the acts of
violence perpetrated by a small group of individuals lately.
Such acts have deviated from the original intent of the peaceful
demonstrations and are bringing distress to the business
community and the general public as a whole."
    The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce on Thursday also put
out a statement saying it supported the stance of Zhang
Xiaoming, one of the most senior Chinese officials overseeing
Hong Kong affairs, during a meeting in the southern Chinese city
of Shenzhen this week.
    Zhang had said Hong Kong is facing its worst crisis since it
returned to China from British rule in 1997. He said if
"turmoil" occurs in Hong Kong, "the central government must
intervene".  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2530UQ
   

 (Reporting By Anne Marie Roantree, Donny Kwok, Clare Jim and
Farah Master; Editing by Paul Tait and Michael Perry)
 ((annemarie.roantree@thomsonreuters.com; +852 97387151; Reuters
Messaging: annemarie.roantree.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))