China has slammed Hong Kong airport protesters, describing them as 'terrorist-like'.
The rallies, which had paralysed one of the world's busiest travel hubs, ended with ugly clashes on Tuesday night that included protesters beating two men.
The Chinese government immediately seized on the attacks to louden its drumbeat of anger and intimidation against the protesters, who have staged 10 weeks of relentless rallies to demand greater freedoms.
"We express the strongest condemnation of these terrorist-like actions," said Xu Luying, a spokeswoman at the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of the State Council, who called the two men who were beaten "mainland China compatriots."
It was the second time this week that China had sought to frame the protests as "terrorism", part of a pattern of increasingly ominous warnings that have raised fears it may deploy force to quell the unrest.
A police officer aims his gun against protesters during the Hong Kong airport demonstration. Source: AAP
Second night of chaos
Chaos erupted at Hong Kong's airport for a second day as pro-democracy protesters staged a disruptive sit-in that paralysed hundreds of flights, saw police fire pepper spray, and a mainland journalist beaten.
Demonstrators defied warnings from the city's leader who said they were heading down a "path of no return", and US President Donald Trump called for calm, saying his intelligence had reported Chinese troop movements toward the Hong Kong border.
The latest protest led to ugly scenes at one of the world's busiest airports where small groups of hardcore demonstrators turned on two men they accused of being spies or undercover police, and as desperate travellers pleaded in vain to be allowed onto flights.
Hong Kong's 10-week-long political crisis has seen millions of people take to the streets calling for a halt to sliding freedoms and was already the biggest challenge to Chinese rule of the semi-autonomous city since its 1997 handover from Britain.
But two days of protests at the airport have again raised the stakes for the financial hub.
Protesters surround a man carrying a t-shirt baring the words I love police who protesters claimed was a police officer (AAP) Source: AAP
Beijing is sending increasingly ominous signals that the unrest must end, with state-run media showing videos of security forces gathering across the border.
All check-ins were cancelled yesterday afternoon after thousands of protesters wearing their signature black T-shirts made barricades using luggage trolleys to prevent passengers from passing through security gates.
Scuffles broke out between protesters and travellers who pleaded to be allowed past.
Mob justice
Vigilantism also broke out when crowds turned on two men suspected of being interlopers.
Police recently disguised themselves as activists to make arrests, a move which has sent paranoia soaring about potential infiltrators.
The first man was held for about two hours before eventually being led away in an ambulance.
Riot police briefly deployed pepper spray and batons to beat back protesters while they escorted the vehicle away from the departures hall.
Soon afterwards a second man, wearing a yellow journalist vest, was surrounded, zip-tied and then beaten by a small group who accused him of being a spy.
In a tweet, Hu Xijun, the editor of China's state-controlled Global Times tabloid, which has vociferously condemned the protests, confirmed the man was a journalist working for the paper.
The man was later driven away in an ambulance after fellow protesters and volunteer medics carried him away.
'Into an abyss'
Yesterday morning, the city's leader, Carrie Lam, gave an at-times emotional press conference in which she warned of dangerous consequences if escalating violence was not curbed.
"Violence ... will push Hong Kong down a path of no return," she said.
Ms Lam, who faced fierce questioning from local reporters and at one point appeared to be on the verge of tears, appealed for calm.
"Take a minute to think, look at our city, our home, do you all really want to see it pushed into an abyss?" Ms Lam said, although she again refused to make any concessions to the protesters.
Policemen arrest a protester (AAP) Source: AAP
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 2.10 per cent in its third straight day of losses.
The airport became a target on Monday after especially fierce clashes between police and protesters over the weekend in which a woman suffered a severe injury to her right eye.
Protesters blamed the injury on a police bean-bag round and used social media to gather their numbers at the arrival and departure halls, with hundreds of flights cancelled in the pandemonium.
'Mobsters'
The protests began in opposition to a bill that would have allowed extraditions to the mainland but quickly evolved into a broader battle to reverse a slide of rights and freedoms in the southern Chinese city.
Authorities in Beijing on Monday slammed violent protesters who threw petrol bombs at police officers, linking them to "terrorism".
Yesterday, state media upped the ante, calling protesters "mobsters", warning they must never be appeased and raising the spectre of mainland security forces intervening.
Videos promoted by state media showed Chinese military and armoured vehicles appearing to gather in the southern city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.
"Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!" US President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Earlier, speaking to reporters in New Jersey, Trump said he hoped no one would be killed in the city's protests.
