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Reuters

Business

Jessie Pang and Aleksander Solum

Hong Kong protesters target airport but planes keep flying

Anti-extradition bill protesters gather outside the airport, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters blocked roads and public transport links to Hong Kong airport on Sunday in a bid to draw world attention to their fight for democracy for the Chinese-ruled city which is facing its biggest political crisis in decades.

Planes were taking off and landing, with delays, but trains were suspended and approach roads to the airport impassable as protesters erected barricades and overturned trolleys at the airport and in the nearby new town of Tung Chung.

Police officers stand in front of a metro station after they searched a train looking for protesters, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Some passengers were forced to walk the last bit of their journey to the airport by foot, dragging luggage behind them.

The MTR subway station in Tung Chung was closed and demonstrators smashed CCTV cameras and lamps with metal poles and dismantled station turnstiles. Police moved in and made several arrests.

Chek Lap Kok, built around a tiny outlying island in the dying days of British colonial rule, is one of the world's busiest and most efficient airports, reached by a series of bridges which were packed with traffic.

Protesters build barricades outside the terminals at Hong Kong International Airport, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

"If we disrupt the airport, more foreigners will read the news about Hong Kong," said one 20-year-old protester, asking not to be named.

Black-clad demonstrators targeted the airport three weeks ago, jamming the terminal in sometimes violent clashes with police and prompting some flights to be cancelled or delayed.

Police said on Sunday protesters hurled iron poles, bricks and rocks on to the railway track near the airport station. By early evening protesters at the airport had left, but protesters in Tung Chung remained.

Anti-extradition bill protesters smash Mass Transit Railway (MTR) facility as they accuse the railway operator for helping the government to catch protesters, at Tung Chung, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

"We have no idea how to leave. We’re stuck," a masked protester said, as others looked for buses and ferries to get back home.

Police and protesters had clashed overnight in some of the most intense violence since unrest erupted more than three months ago over concerns Beijing is eroding the autonomy granted to the territory when it was handed back to China in 1997.

China denies the charge of meddling and says Hong Kong is an internal affair. It has denounced the protests and warned of the damage to the economy.

Protesters run away from the police on the road leading to Hong Kong International Airport, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Tourist numbers have plummeted in recent weeks and international trade fairs cancelled as the territory faces its first recession in a decade.

China is eager to quell the unrest before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1. It has accused foreign powers, particularly the United States and Britain, of fomenting the unrest.

Several hundred demonstrators also gathered outside the British consulate in central Hong Kong, waving Union Jack flags and chanting "God save the Queen".

Mass Transit Railway (MTR) facility is pictured destroyed by anti-extradition bill protesters as they accuse the railway operator for helping the government to catch protesters, at Tung Chung, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

SUBWAY VIOLENCE

Parts of the metro system ground to a halt as skirmishes spread to the subway on Saturday, with television showing images of people being beaten as they cowered on the floor behind umbrellas. Police said they arrested 63 people aged between 13 and 36.

A train to Hong Kong International Airport is pictured after the line was suspended, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Amnesty International said the metro violence should be investigated.

The protests came on the fifth anniversary of China's decision to curtail democratic reforms and rule out universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

The unrest began in mid-June, fuelled by anger over a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed people in the city to be sent to China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party.

But the turmoil has evolved over 13 weeks to become a widespread demand for greater democracy.

Protesters have called for a general strike on Monday, but it was not immediately clear how many people would take part.

Commuters react as police officers looking for protestors raid a metro train, in Hong Kong, China September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

(Reporting by Twinnie Siu, Marius Zaharia, Farah Master, Ebrahim Harris, Aleksander Solum, Joyce Zhou, Donny Kwok, Yoyo Chow, Kai Pfaffenbach, Danish Siddiqui, Noah Sin and Anne Marie Roantree; Writing by Joe Brock and Nick Macfie; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)