‘Signs of terrorism’: Beijing warns Hong Kong rioters, while airport grounds all departures

Violent anti-government marchers in Hong Kong are showing signs of terrorist activity, China has warned. The protesters, meanwhile, have flooded the city’s airport, causing all flights from Hong Kong to be cancelled.

Yang Guang, spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in Beijing, blasted the protestors for undermining the city’s “rule of law and social order.”

Hong Kong’s radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging.

The rioting poses “a serious challenge to Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Yang said.

The large-scale protests in Hong Kong, China’s self-governing territory, entered into their tenth consecutive week over the weekend. The protesters erected barricades, marched to police stations, and hurled bricks and petrol bombs at officers. Riot police used tear gas to disperse the unruly crowds.

On Monday, thousands of protesters flocked to Hong Kong International Airport, where they staged a massive sit-in. The action “seriously disrupted” the airport’s work, the administration said, and led to all flights out of the city being cancelled.

The protests, which were initially against the now suspended extradition bill that would have allowed suspects in criminal cases to be moved to mainland China for trial, now demand broader political reform and the resignation of city officials.

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