This archive report was first published on 13 August 2019.
Flights resumed at Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday, August 13, 2019, after a massive rally by thousands of pro-democracy protesters led to an unprecedented shutdown the previous day.
Despite the airport's reopening, hundreds of flights remained cancelled, with Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's flagship airline, listing over 200 flights as still being cancelled on Tuesday morning.
The abrupt closure marked a new low in a 10-week crisis that has seen millions of people take to Hong Kong's streets in the biggest challenge to Chinese rule of the semi-autonomous city since its 1997 handover from Britain.
The protests were driven by anger over alleged police brutality, with demonstrators claiming one woman had lost an eye at a weekend rally and video showing tear gas being used against them in a subway station.
However, the protests have led to rising anger from authorities in Beijing, who on Monday described some of the violent demonstrations as "terrorism".
State-run media on Monday also showed armoured personnel carriers assembling at a mainland city just across the border from Hong Kong.
A 22-year-old protester at the airport told AFP on Monday, "It is becoming more and more dangerous, but if we don't still come out at this point, our future will become more frightening, and we will lose our freedoms."
Authorities in Beijing slammed violent protesters who threw petrol bombs at police officers, linking them to "terrorism".
"Hong Kong's radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging," said Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.
