Skip to content
Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Primary Menu Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us
  • Featured
  • World View

Hong Kong Leader Says City On Brink As Protesters Unleash Travel Chaos

Aug 6, 2019 | Pratirodh Bureau

Pro-Democracy Protests in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters are close to creating a “very dangerous situation”, the city’s leader warned Monday as train travel and international flights in the global financial hub were thrown into chaos.

The peak-hour efforts to lock down Hong Kong’s transport sector followed two months of unprecedented and often violent unrest, fuelled by demands for greater democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

With commuters unable to get to work and international travellers facing delays, chief executive Carrie Lam held a press conference to warn protesters and signal that authorities would not buckle under the growing pressure.

“(They) have seriously undermined Hong Kong’s law and order and are pushing our city, the city that we all love and many of us helped to build, to the verge of a very dangerous situation,” Lam said.

She later referenced calls by protesters for a “revolution”, describing this as a challenge to the ‘one country, two systems’ framework under which Hong Kong has been ruled since it returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

“I dare say they are trying to destroy Hong Kong,” Lam said.

She spoke shortly after activists descended on key subway stations during the morning rush hour, deliberately keeping open doors to stop trains departing, crippling multiple lines and triggering occasional scuffles.

More than 100 flights at the city’s airport — one of the world’s busiest — were also listed as cancelled on Monday morning.

Many disrupted flights were with Cathay Pacific.

The carrier did not give a reason for the cancellations, but its flight attendants union confirmed some of its members had walked out.

“Over the last 50 days, the government has been ignoring the demands of the people and using only police force to try to suppress voices, causing countless Hong Kong people to despair,” the union said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Some key roads were also blockaded, causing traffic gridlock, as the protesters urged a general strike across the city.

The largely leaderless protest movement uses social messaging apps to coordinate.

But people from all walks of life indicated plans online to either strike or phone in sick on Monday — from civil servants and social workers, to bus drivers and even employees of the city’s Disneyland.

Many shops across the city were shuttered, including fashion outlets in the central commercial district, like Topshop and Zara.

Alongside the strike, protesters planned to hold rallies in seven different parts of the city on Monday.

While some commuters were angered by the disruptions, others said they supported the action.

“As long as the government doesn’t respond then for sure the movement will escalate,” a civil servant, who gave his surname as Leung, told AFP as he tried to make his way to work.

The efforts for a general strike — a rare sight in a freewheeling finance hub where unions traditionally have little sway — are aimed at showing Beijing there is still broad public support for a protest movement that keeps hitting the streets but has so far won few concessions.

“Support for the political strike today seems strong and it’s been bolstered further by the escalating violence between the police and protesters,” political analyst Dixon Wong told AFP.

The protests were triggered by opposition against a planned law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

It quickly evolved into a wider movement for democratic reform and a halt to eroding freedoms.

Even before Lam’s press conference, authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing had signalled a hardening stance to the protests.

The Chinese military described the unrest last week as “intolerable” and released a propaganda video showing a drill of troops quelling a protest in Hong Kong.

Dozens of protesters were also charged with rioting over the past fortnight, a charge with a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

Over the weekend, riot police fired tear gas at protesters in multiple districts throughout Saturday and Sunday night.

The past fortnight has seen a surge in violence on both sides, with police repeatedly firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse increasingly hostile projectile-throwing crowds.

A group of men suspected to be linked to triads — Hong Kong’s notorious gangsters — also attacked demonstrators, putting 45 people in hospital.

Under the terms of the 1997 handover deal with Britain, Hong Kong has rights and liberties unseen on the Chinese mainland, including an independent judiciary and freedom of speech. But many say those rights are being curtailed.

Tags: carrie lam, hong kong, hong kong civil servants, hong kong law and order, hong kong police, hong kong protests, pro-democracy protests, traffic gridlock

Continue Reading

Previous Govt’s Decision On Article 370 Is A “Betrayal Of Trust”: Omar Abdullah
Next Ayodhya Dispute: No Muslims Were Allowed To Enter The Structure Since 1934, Says Nirmohi Akhara

More Stories

  • Featured

US Trying To Hyphenate India, Pak: Congress

1 hour ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Book Review: Understanding The Challenges Of This Bountiful Planet

7 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

What India’s River Moves Mean For South Asian Water Cooperation

9 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • US Trying To Hyphenate India, Pak: Congress
  • Book Review: Understanding The Challenges Of This Bountiful Planet
  • What India’s River Moves Mean For South Asian Water Cooperation
  • Farmers In Punjab’s Border Villages Navigate Conflict And Survival
  • Trapped Between Two Nuclear Powers, People Of Kashmir Continue To Suffer
  • How India Can Evolve An Inclusive Policy For The Hearing Impaired
  • Why A Hotline Between India, Pak Is Crucial To Prevent A Disastrous War
  • Pak Strikes: Five Essential Reads On Decades Of Rivalry Over Kashmir
  • Beyond The Trade Deficit: The Real Risks Of Trump’s Tariffs
  • PM Modi Should At Least Attend All-Party Meet: Congress
  • India’s Indus Waters Bargain Needs A Cohesive Strategy, Not Coercion
  • What Exactly Are ‘Green’ Jobs?
  • “PM Modi Had ‘Prior Intel’ On Pahalgam Attack, Cancelled Kashmir Visit”
  • The Costs Of Coexisting With Predators
  • New Construction Waste Rules Lay Stress On Accountability & Recycling
  • Will PM Modi Admit Govt’s Policy Change On Caste Census: Congress
  • India Drafts Emissions Targets For Industries, But…
  • To AI Or Not To AI In Academia?
  • “Ties With Pakistan Will Never Improve Until…”
  • New Port Project In Karnataka Sparks Protests

Search

Main Links

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us

Related Stroy

  • Featured

US Trying To Hyphenate India, Pak: Congress

1 hour ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Book Review: Understanding The Challenges Of This Bountiful Planet

7 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

What India’s River Moves Mean For South Asian Water Cooperation

9 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Farmers In Punjab’s Border Villages Navigate Conflict And Survival

3 days ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Trapped Between Two Nuclear Powers, People Of Kashmir Continue To Suffer

3 days ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • US Trying To Hyphenate India, Pak: Congress
  • Book Review: Understanding The Challenges Of This Bountiful Planet
  • What India’s River Moves Mean For South Asian Water Cooperation
  • Farmers In Punjab’s Border Villages Navigate Conflict And Survival
  • Trapped Between Two Nuclear Powers, People Of Kashmir Continue To Suffer
Copyright © All rights reserved. | CoverNews by AF themes.