After clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators the day before the Chinese border, new rallies are scheduled Sunday, September 22 in Hong Kong especially in the area of the airport.
The eighth international airport in the world has repeatedly been the target of protesters who denounce for more than three months the decline in freedoms and the growing interference of Beijing in the affairs of its semi-autonomous region. The courier forums used by the protest movement invited protesters to "test" the airport's resilience, disrupting rail and road links, and occupying the buildings.
Limited links
In order to prevent protesters from arriving in too large numbers, the express rail link between the airport and central Hong Kong stops in fewer stations and bus connections have been limited.
Hong Kong is going through its worst political crisis since being handed back to China in 1997, with near-daily demonstrations and actions that have sometimes degenerated into violent clashes between radicals and law enforcement.
The airport, borrowed in 2018 by 74 million passengers or 10 times the population of Hong Kong, has regularly been the target of protesters. In August, pro-democracy activists staged a sit-in for several days in the arrivals hall to raise awareness of passengers arriving in Hong Kong.
But this action degenerated when protesters prevented passengers from accessing the international zone. Hundreds of robberies were canceled and two men suspected of being pro-Beijing spies were beaten in violence that shocked the public.
In early September, activists again blocked the airport, forcing the operators of the rail link with the center of the city to suspend its services because protesters had thrown objects on tracks. Some road accesses were also blocked.
On September 7, the last action against the airport failed because of the deterrent deployment of a large number of police officers.
With AFP