Three Hong Kong activists forbidden from boarding flight to Beijing

Three student activists of the pro-democracy movement were forbidden from boarding a flight to Beijing on Saturday. The airport authorities reportedly stopped the activists at the airport itself and called their travel permits as ‘invalid’.

On Saturday, the leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) and two others were to fly to Beijing in order to deliver their viewpoint to the government authorities. Federations’ leader Alex Chow, along with two from Occupy Central had decided to discuss this matter with the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and officials of the National People’s Congress. From this tour, they also aimed at an agreement with the Chinese Premier.

At the airport on Saturday, the three activists were joined by several other supporters of this movement, who opened their yellow umbrellas, a sign of the democracy movement. Scenes turned chaotic at the airport where the three were denied from boarding the flight. The three eventually left the

Photo: BBC

airport after denial.

In the meantime, Beijing called the protests as ‘illegal’.

An editorial published in the government controlled Global Times said, ‘The new move, after more than six weeks of protests to demand “free elections” of the next Hong Kong chief executive in 2017, is widely seen as the HKFS’ tactics to win more attention with a fresh stimulation.’

The editorial also called the activists’ plan as ‘just a show’. It further said that As long as the mainland does not provide a stage for the HKFS’ show, their sobbing cries to the Hong Kong media will be useless.

According to a Reuters report, A Cathy Pacific spokesman told local media that Chinese authorities had told the airline the students’ travel permits were invalid. The same report also quoted Yvonne Leung, the representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Students as saying: “Cathay has confirmed that their (students’) return home card has been cancelled by the mainland authorities, so they could not get the required certificates to get on to the plane.”

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About Suyash Karangutkar

Suyash Karangutkar is a young, dedicated and an enthusiastic journalist who has a deep interest in National and International Affairs. He is an ardent political spectator who finds politics fascinating. At Spectralhues, he heads the Mumbai team and covers National Affairs & Politics. He also occasionally writes columns for Spectralhues. He can be followed on Twitter @columnistsuyash