Hong Kong Int'l Airport reopens, U.S. warns China not to intervene
- 5 years ago
Our top story this morning...
Around five thousand pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong swarmed the territory's international airport on Monday, forcing it to temporarily close.
They remain in the terminals, but flights are now leaving.
For more, we have our Choi Si-young on the line to tell us more.
Si-young, what are we hearing?
Sure, Mark.
The airport shut down at 4:30 p.m. Monday, and it reopened at 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday, that's 7 a.m. Korean time.
Now this is two hours earlier than initially announced by the airport.
That's due to a large number of people grounded yesterday.
But if you check out the websites of major airlines, many flights still remain "cancelled."
So if you are travelling in or out of Hong Kong, you should check with your airline or the Hong Kong airport website to confirm whether there are any cancellations or delays.
Now this is the first time in the airport's history that it has been forced to close because of a mass rally.
The rallies swelled in size as a video of a female demonstrator, who was shot in the eye by police, went viral and enraged protesters.
Can you tell us more about the woman on the video who got shot in the eye and the international reactions to it?
Well, Mark.
On Sunday the female protester lost an eye to a bean-bag round shot by police, while taking part in a street demonstration.
Hong Kong police rules state that such non-lethal ammunition should be shot at people's body or limbs, not at their head.
The brutal force used by police shocked not just the demonstrators but also people from around the world.
Now amid the widely-circulated concerns that China may intervene in Hong Kong with force, the U.S. and Canada have openly expressed their concerns.
On Monday, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted "any violent crackdown would be unacceptable" and said "the world is watching", clearly referring to China which is thought to be considering intervening in the matter with force.
Canada's prime minister also said he's deeply concerned about how the situation is unfolding in Hong Kong and called on China to "respectfully treat those Hong Kong citizens or the demonstrators who have reasonable concerns" toward the government bill.
However, on the same day, the State Council of China called the demonstrations "a sign of terrorism" and said the protesters' actions against the police are crimes because they had deadly weapons.
Back to you Mark.
Around five thousand pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong swarmed the territory's international airport on Monday, forcing it to temporarily close.
They remain in the terminals, but flights are now leaving.
For more, we have our Choi Si-young on the line to tell us more.
Si-young, what are we hearing?
Sure, Mark.
The airport shut down at 4:30 p.m. Monday, and it reopened at 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday, that's 7 a.m. Korean time.
Now this is two hours earlier than initially announced by the airport.
That's due to a large number of people grounded yesterday.
But if you check out the websites of major airlines, many flights still remain "cancelled."
So if you are travelling in or out of Hong Kong, you should check with your airline or the Hong Kong airport website to confirm whether there are any cancellations or delays.
Now this is the first time in the airport's history that it has been forced to close because of a mass rally.
The rallies swelled in size as a video of a female demonstrator, who was shot in the eye by police, went viral and enraged protesters.
Can you tell us more about the woman on the video who got shot in the eye and the international reactions to it?
Well, Mark.
On Sunday the female protester lost an eye to a bean-bag round shot by police, while taking part in a street demonstration.
Hong Kong police rules state that such non-lethal ammunition should be shot at people's body or limbs, not at their head.
The brutal force used by police shocked not just the demonstrators but also people from around the world.
Now amid the widely-circulated concerns that China may intervene in Hong Kong with force, the U.S. and Canada have openly expressed their concerns.
On Monday, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted "any violent crackdown would be unacceptable" and said "the world is watching", clearly referring to China which is thought to be considering intervening in the matter with force.
Canada's prime minister also said he's deeply concerned about how the situation is unfolding in Hong Kong and called on China to "respectfully treat those Hong Kong citizens or the demonstrators who have reasonable concerns" toward the government bill.
However, on the same day, the State Council of China called the demonstrations "a sign of terrorism" and said the protesters' actions against the police are crimes because they had deadly weapons.
Back to you Mark.