Hundreds of Hong Kong protesters stage sit-in at airport arrivals
Hundreds of protesters, including flight attendants, staged a sit-in at Hong Kong’s international airport terminal, in a bid to "educate" visitors about the unprecedented demonstrations triggered by a controversial bill.
The airport arrivals hall is usually filled with friends and relatives waiting to greet loved ones as they make their way out of one of the world's busiest airports.
But on Friday visitors were greeted with protesters chanting anti-government slogans while holding banners and handing out flyers.
"There are no riots, there’s only tyranny!", chanted the protesters, who were all dressed in black.
Hong Kong residents have been protesting for more than a month, calling for democratic reforms and the withdrawal of a controversial extradition Bill in the Chinese territory.
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Their demands include direct elections, the dissolution of the current legislature and an investigation into alleged police brutality.
Clashes between protesters and police and other parties have become increasingly violent.
Another march is planned for Saturday in Yuen Long, the area [where a mob of white\-clad men brutally attacked people at a railway station](http://Footage emerges of clashes in Hong Kong as protesters are attacked by gangs) last Sunday following a large pro-democracy rally. Dozens were injured.
Police refused to give permission for the Saturday event but protesters said they will move forward anyway.
Last Sunday, hundreds of thousands marched through Hong Kong’s busy business and retail districts, after which some protesters vandalised the Liaison Office, which represents China’s Communist Party-ruled central government in Hong Kong.
They spray-painted the office’s surveillance cameras and threw eggs and black paint at the Chinese national emblem on the building.
That last move incensed mainland authorities who called it an affront to the "one country, two systems" framework through which the Chinese territory is promised certain freedoms not afforded in the mainland.
Ahead of Friday’s action, protesters released a tongue-in-cheek video in the style of an plane landing announcement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hong Kong," the polished voiceover says.
"It is a safety requirement that you remain alert and vigilant at all times because the police will no longer answer your calls when you have any needs."