Hong Kong leader says city on brink as protesters unleash travel chaos
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Riot police fired tear gas at protesters in Hong Kong on Monday afternoon as the financial hub was shaken by a general strike that brought parts of the city to a standstill.
The latest clashes occurred in the working-class district of Wong Tai Sin with police launching multiple volleys of tear gas to clear hundreds of demonstrators from a main road, AFP reporters on scene said.
Earlier reports said pro-democracy protesters are close to creating a "very dangerous situation", the city's leader warned on Monday as train travel and international flights in the global financial hub were thrown into chaos.
The peak-hour efforts to lock down Hong Kong's transport sector on Monday morning followed two months of unprecedented and often violent unrest, fuelled by demands for greater democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
With commuters unable to get to work and international travellers facing delays, chief executive Carrie Lam held a press conference to warn protesters and signal authorities would not buckle under the growing pressure.
"(They) have seriously undermined Hong Kong's law and order and are pushing our city, the city that we all love and many of us helped to build, to the verge of a very dangerous situation," Lam said.
She later referenced called by protesters for a "revolution", describing this as a challenge to the 'one country, two systems' framework under which Hong Kong has been ruled since it returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
"I dare say they are trying to destroy Hong Kong," Lam said.
She spoke shortly after activists descended on key subway stations during the morning rush hour, deliberately keeping open doors to stop trains departing, crippling multiple lines and triggering occasional scuffles.
Flights cancelled, shops closed
More than 100 flights at the city's airport - one of the world's busiest - were also listed as cancelled on Monday morning. At least 105 flights were listed as cancelled on the airport's departure page on Monday morning.
When contacted, an airport spokesman did not give any reason for the cancellations but said passengers should check to see if their flight was departing.
"The Airport Authority advises passengers to check with their airlines for the latest flight information, and to proceed to the airport only when their seats and flight time have been confirmed," the airport said in a statemen
Many disrupted flights were with Cathay Pacific.
The carrier did not give a reason for the cancellations, but its flight attendants union confirmed some of its members had walked out.
Source: https://gulfnews.com