Hong Kong protesters apologize for inconvenience to travelers, harming two men

As protests are still going on in Hong Kong International Airport, the black-clad protesters have begun to offer apologies and have been bowing at inconvenienced travelers going throught the busiest airport in the world. Netizens have been taking photos of Hong Kong citizens in airports who are bowing and holding up signs expressing their regret over the flight cancellations.

Aside from the airport-wide cancellations that happened over two days, violence had erupted when protesters and Hong Kong police clashed. Two men were captured by the protesters, the former zip-tyed, beaten, and displayed. Tensions rose over policemen infiltrating the protester ranks. On the other side, a bean bag bullet had allegedly hit a woman’s eye, causing her to lose it. Her skull was also shattered.

The post above shows three people bowing at the waist, which is a usual gesture of respect and apology holding up signs. One sign says ‘”Civil” Disobedience’ while another sign says “Sorry for inconvenience HK is sick.”

Read about the cancelled flights and planes turned back or rerouted from Singapore to Hong Kong here.

The Twitter account Freedom HK and another Reddit thread connected to the protests called LIHKG forum, users expressed their dismay over the events at the airport. They said, “We are not like the corrupt cops,” one user wrote. “We should admit it when we’re wrong.”

Below, protesters still occupied parts of the airport, but assisted travelers and were even bowing as the tourists went on their way. 1000 flights have been cancelled due to the conditions in the airport, but some flights have been allowed to push through today.

Beijing quick to condemn, no apologies for shot protester

China’s government was quick to capitalize on what could be the defining moment of the protests’ unstoppable inertia. They condemned the attacks on the two men and how the protesters treated the victims deplorably, even allegedly causing the two to not get adequate medical care in a timely manner.

According to a Channel News Asia report, the protesters accused the persons they assaulted “..of being a mainland police officer and another of being a spy masquerading as a journalist.” The same report said that one of the men tied to a luggage trolley was a journalist working for the state-run The Global Times. The tabloid has loudly denounced and condemned the protests.

Beijing has called the incident a set of terrorist actions done by the protesters.

Fears of police disguising themselves as protesters have flared, causing confusion and distrust in the ranks of protesters.

Still, medical workers and health workers had come together to protest the violence, wearing eye patches to show solidarity with the woman who was hit with the bullet during the protests. Thirteen hospitals joined the sit-in to oppose police violence.

New violence in Sham Shui Po

August 14, Wednesday night, saw a fresh wave of protests that escalated into violence as tear gas was fired into the ranks of black-clad activists in Sham Shui Po. According to a report from Channel News Asia, Sham Shui Po, a residential area in Kowloon, saw the gathering of hundreds of protesters outside a police station. Police fired tear gas into the crowd.

Header image from