Hong Kong airport reopens, with demonstrators told to protest in designated areas

After violent clashes broke out at the Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday night, the airport authority announced on Wednesday it received a temporary injunction to prevent protesters from obstructing airport operations.

Demonstrators must also now stay in assigned areas, Reuters reports. Operations at the airport, one of the busiest in the world, came to a screeching halt on Monday, as protesters made their way through the airport, using luggage carts to block the entrances to customs checkpoints. On Tuesday night, protesters and riot police faced off, with law enforcement using pepper spray against the demonstrators. Police also said protesters "harassed and assaulted a visitor and a journalist," with the demonstrators saying they believed that one man was a Chinese spy and the other was a Chinese reporter.

As the airport resumed operations on Wednesday, employees were seen mopping up blood and trash from the floors, Reuters reports. The protests began 10 weeks ago, and since then, about 600 demonstrators have been arrested. They first began protesting against a proposed bill that would have made it so anyone arrested in Hong Kong could be extradited to China.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Hong Kong went back to Chinese rule in 1997, and while it is supposed to be governed under the "one country, two systems" policy, protesters say Beijing's influence is spreading. China has condemned the protests, saying they are "sprouts of terrorism," and the official People's Daily newspaper ran commentary that stated using "the sword of the law to stop violence and restore order is overwhelmingly the most important and urgent task for Hong Kong."