China moving troops to Hong Kong border amid intensifying protests: Trump

2019-08-13 76

Our top story this morning,...
The protests in Hong Kong continue to intensify... becoming increasingly chaotic by the day.
After a temporary shutdown Monday due to a massive rally over police aggression, flights resumed Tuesday morning at Hong Kong International Airport,... only to stop again in the afternoon, as demonstrators flooded back into the airport.
It's still unclear whether flights will be able to leave today.
This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said China is "moving troops to the Hong Kong border" in what may be an attempt by Beijing to crackdown on the rallies.
We have our Choi Si-young on the line.
Si-young, what's the latest?
Well, Conn-young.
As you said, President Trump tweeted Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies have informed him "that the Chinese government is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong."
He went on to say that "everyone should be calm and safe," in a clear reference to concerns China may attempt to intervene.
The UN human rights chief also denounced the violence on Tuesday and called on Hong Kong to talk to its people.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, called for a "prompt, independent, impartial investigation" into alleged excessive force by police against the protesters.
The EU has expressed similar thoughts.
The spokesperson for the European External Action Service, which is the EU's diplomatic arm, urged all sides to refrain from violence and calm down.
The spokesperson highlighted the need for all sides to come together for "talks."
So, aside from the international reaction to the developments in Hong Kong, what's the status on the rallies and the airport?
Well Conn-young, all outbound flights from Hong Kong International Airport were suspended as of 4:30 p.m., local time, Tuesday because of the massive rally in the airport's terminals.
It's still unclear whether any flights will depart on Wednesday, but some reports say the scene at the airport is much calmer than yesterday.
So no luck flying out right now, but the airport says incoming flights are running as normal.
Small confrontations and scuffles between the protesters and police occurred on Tuesday, with police spraying tear gas.
More than 300 flights have been cancelled so far since Monday.
Back to you Conn-young.