US intelligence has warned that China is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong, amid intensifying anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous financial hub, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
“Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!” Trump said in a tweet.
Also, Hong Kong airport on Tuesday cancelled all departures as protesters block the facility on the second day of anti-police violence sit-in. Thousands of protesters besieged the Hong Kong International Airport, forcing authorities to cancle all the flights out of Hong Kong. The protesters conducted a peaceful mass sit-in at the airport condemning alleged police brutality.
The Hong Kong police have stepped up crackdown against protesters and resorted to fire tear gas shell and shoot projectiles at close range. The alleged police brutalities took place on Sunday, when anti-riots police fired tear gas inside Kwai Fong MTR station and shot protesters at close range at Tai Koo MTR station.
In a decoy operation, some officers were disguised as protesters, as one protester had her right eye ruptured, apparently caused by a bean bag round fired by police in Tsim Sha Tsui, according to Hong Kong Free Press. During the sit-ins, two protesters displayed videos purportedly showing police violence while handing out MTR metro maps of incidents of alleged misconduct to travellers.
(With inputs from PTI)