Airport sit-in continues. Fewer people than yesterday but still a strong showing. These were taken at around 2:30pm. #HongKongAirport
At one point, they all got up from where they were sitting in the Arrivals Hall and decided to march through the Departures Hall. Here they are chanting 《五大訴求,缺一不可》: “five major demands, not one is dispensable” #HongKongAirport
The woman had climbed on top of the barricade. She started getting aggressive & slapping people’s hands. Someone started shining a laser at her but the crowd made them stop: “ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL OR BURN HER?!” (a joke referring to police arresting ppl for having laser pens)
Lots of confusion. Flights will continue to operate, but you can't check in... @JournoDannyAero is the expert so he will have the best updates.
Protester urging those in Arrivals to head to Departures to help block passengers and thus get even more flights cancelled. #hongkongairport
Crowd is getting bigger, with people coming after work. #HongKongAirport
Complete mob surrounding the man who protesters claim is a mainland Chinese officer. I was in there and it was a sweaty, hot, aggressive mess. Emotions running high here. Medics desperately trying to get him out. #HongKongAirport
Police vans have arrived. Officers I can see are in plain clothes. Crowd is starting to disperse slightly
Posting videos from before now that the commotion has died down. This one from 10:45pm shows the police coming down the ramp.
10:46pm: Medics inch their way through a dangerously angry and dense crowd carrying a man the protesters say is a mainland Chinese cop. They are able to make progress because of the distraction of the police’s arrival. #hongkongairport
10:56pm: Protesters jeer at the police, holding signs about police violence. The police eventually retreated. #hongkongairport
2:25am: Only a few protesters remain at the airport. @SCMPNews reported that a court injunction was secured before midnight to clear protesters, but it’s unclear what that means for now: scmp.com/news/hong-kong…
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Reporting live from the scene where the doomed, allegedly potentially Covid-infected hamsters live: 3 AFCD vans with staff in full hazmat, police officers (including plainclothes ones), police cordons, and camera crews.
The police have blocked off the hazard area and are telling people to cross the road and use the opposite sidewalk
Correction: 2 police vans, 2 AFCD vans (for 2,000 hamsters, though it’s unclear how many are in the shop)
Updating my CV properly for the 1st time since 2006 & I've been thinking a lot about how grateful I am to have cut my teeth as a journalist @CoconutsHK, where I had (almost) free reign to be sassy & salty AF, esp when covering the Umbrella Movement. eg: coconuts.co/hongkong/news/…
It makes me so sad to think that future (and current) young journalists in Hong Kong won't get the chance to grow in an environment where they don't have to worry about whether their words will land them in jail. The loss of potential is beyond measure and unimaginably tragic.
I also had a momentary brain fart where I tried to click on a link in my CV to an old Apple Daily story that featured my little environmental project, which aimed to get people exploring HK's outdoors. The realization when I got an error page hit me like a punch to the gut.
I’m actually struggling to come up with an analogy to explain to those unfamiliar with Chinese culture just how offensive this is. I’m almost laughing at the thought of how my late grandma would react to this… I used to spend hours folding joss paper with her for offerings.
This isn’t nearly as bad in comparison but it reminds me of the time I ordered pad thai in Paris (it was late and I was desperate for Asian food ok) and this is how it showed up.
Quite the turnout for the rally for Uighurs/Tibet/Hong Kong outside the Chinese Embassy in London for the 100th anniversary of the CCP and the 24th anniversary of the HK Handover. It’s a sharp contrast from the somber day that Hong Kong had.
There’s a man in all yellow and he’s begun leading the HKers to another rally in Chinatown.
Rally starts in half an hour and these are all the people leaving the Chinese embassy protest to head to the next rally.
I pay attention to trolls bc I’m a masochist but also bc they often represent not uncommon views. This guy who comments on my IG blames protesters for the CCP tightening its grip on Hong Kong *but not the CCP itself*.
It’s a hypercynical, hyperpractical belief in the inevitability and inescapability of the CCP’s continued authoritarian rule. They think that HK was doing just fine & that ungrateful protesters who were otherwise enjoying a “decent” quality of life “forced” the CCP to crack down.
It’s a fairly common view amongst older generations & in mainland China: keep your head down, work hard, & accept trade offs on the human rights & democracy fronts in exchange for a stable life and some upward mobility: if no one had complained, things would have stayed the same.
Sidewalk march happening on Yee Wo St in Causeway Bay despite heavy police presence. #hongkongprotests
And as quickly as it appeared it has dissipated. Some remain standing by bus stops holding up Apple Daily pages in protest. As has been the case for many protests this year, it’s hard to distinguish between shoppers, bystanders and protesters until they begin chanting.
Just saw two young women walk past at group of police. One exclaimed “Eek! It’s dangerous to be next to all these Ah Sirs!”