Thousands of Hong Kongers, including flight attendants, held a rally in the airport’s arrivals hall on Friday to “educate” visitors about the demonstrations currently gripping the international finance hub.
Passengers and visitors were greeted by a sea of black-clad protesters chanting anti-government slogans, holding banners and handing out flyers.
The rally is the latest bid to keep pressure on Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leaders after seven weeks of largely peaceful mass demonstrations followed by violent clashes. The protests were triggered by a controversial bill which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but they have evolved into a call for wider democratic reforms and a halt to sliding freedoms.
Organisers billed the airport rally as an opportunity to brief arrivals on the political unrest, particularly visitors from mainland China where the state-controlled news has portrayed the protests as a violent, foreign-funded plot to destabilise the motherland.
Meryl Yeung, a 29-year-old flight attendant, had just got off a plane and joined the protest.
“It’s important to come to the airport and tell foreigners what’s happening in Hong Kong,” she said, adding that it was especially vital to make sure people in China are made aware of the protests. “They have no idea at all, they only get information from one side, they think everyone... coming to a protest, to a rally, are all rioters, or promoting Hong Kong independence,” she said.