WASHINGTON - The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Tuesday he wanted the Senate to pass legislation to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, as violence rose in the Chinese-ruled city wracked by months of unrest.
Republican Senator Jim Risch noted that he is a co-sponsor and "strong proponent" of the "Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act," which would place Hong Kong's special treatment by the United States under tighter scrutiny.
"We want it moved," Risch said during a discussion on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill in mid-October, drawing accusations from Beijing that the lawmakers had "sinister intentions."
Risch's Foreign Relations committee approved a similar measure in September, but it has not been scheduled for a vote by the full Senate, which must pass the bill before it can be sent to President Donald Trump. The White House, which is engaged in intense trade negotiations with China, has yet to say whether he would sign or veto it.
Police in Hong Kong battled pro-democracy protesters at several university campuses on Tuesday in sometimes savage clashes, as parts of the city were paralyzed including Hong Kong's central financial district, which was tear-gassed for a second day running.
Those flare-ups occurred a day after police shot an unarmed protester at close range and a man was doused with gasoline and set on fire in some of the worst violence since the protests began.
Risch and fellow Republican Senator Marco Rubio are to meet on Wednesday with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the possibility of getting floor time for a vote on the bill, aides said.
"The world needs to see that the United States will stand up and say this is wrong, we stand with the people of Hong Kong," Risch said.
Asked of McConnell would allow a vote in the Senate, a spokesman pointed to his remarks in the Senate on Tuesday expressing concern about the violence.
"I’m eager to continue working with colleagues such as Senator Risch, Senator (Lindsey) Graham, Senator Rubio, and others toward a strong and procedurally workable solution," McConnell said.
The legislation has 37 Republican and Democratic co-sponsors in the 100-member Senate. Backers say it is expected to pass easily if McConnell schedules a vote.
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Hong Kong's embattled leader abandoned a State of the Union-style speech on Wednesday after she was heckled by opposition lawmakers during chaotic scenes inside the city's legislature.
The speech by chief executive Carrie Lam was billed as an attempt to win hearts and minds after four months of seething pro-democracy protests.
But it instead laid bare the intense polarization coursing through the semi-autonomous financial hub after weeks of huge and increasingly violent protests.
Lam tried twice to begin her policy address inside the Legislative Council which had opened for a new session some three months after it was trashed by masked protesters.
But pro-democracy lawmakers, who form a minority of the pro-Beijing legislature, shouted her down.
One even used a pocket projector to broadcast protest slogans behind Lam as she stood on the podium, and later donned a face mask of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After failing to deliver the address for a second time, Lam left the building and her office announced that she would release a pre-recorded video of the speech instead.
It is the first time in Hong Kong's history that a chief executive or governor has been unable to deliver the annual address in person since the tradition began in 1948.
The chaos inside the Hong Kong legislature comes after a summer of huge and increasingly violent democracy protests as popular anger explodes over sliding freedoms and living standards following two decades of Chinese rule.
There is huge pressure on Lam -- who currently boasts historically low approval ratings -- to unveil flagship measures that might lower some of the anger on the streets.
An advance copy of the speech seen by AFP shows Lam will focus on housing and land shortages in a city that has one of the least affordable property markets in the world and notoriously high rents.
But there are no major concessions to protesters.
CONGRESS MULLS RIGHTS BILL
At a briefing on Tuesday, Lam stuck to her oft-repeated stance that bending to violent demonstrations would be unacceptable.
"For concessions to be made simply because of escalating violence will only make the situation worse. On the other hand, we should consider every means to end the violence," she said.
The core demands of protesters include an independent inquiry into the police, an amnesty for the more than 2,500 people arrested and the right for Hong Kongers to freely elect their leaders.
Both Lam and Beijing have repeatedly dismissed those demands.
Millions have taken to the streets of Hong Kong, initially against a now-dropped bid by its leaders to allow extraditions to the authoritarian Chinese mainland.
The months-long movement has expanded into a broader pro-democracy push in the territory where activists say freedoms are being eroded by Beijing, contrary to a deal that outlined Hong Kong's 1997 return to China from British colonial rule.
Lam's speech comes after the US House of Representatives passed a bill late Tuesday that aims to defend civil rights in Hong Kong and has drawn rare bipartisan support in a polarized Congress.
China, which has accused "external forces" of fueling weeks of unrest in the city, expressed its "strong indignation" over the bill and told Washington to "stop meddling".
The Hong Kong Rights and Democracy Act would link the city's special trading status with the United States to an annual State Department certification that authorities are respecting human rights and the rule of law.
It would also require the US president to identify and sanction the people responsible for the erosion of autonomy and serious abuses of human rights in Hong Kong.
The House also approved a related bill to prohibit the export of certain non-lethal crowd control items such as tear gas to Hong Kong.
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HONG KONG, China -- The majority of Hong Kong's subway stations remained closed Sunday as the city braced for more protests with pro-democracy activists vowing to hit the streets and opposition lawmakers trying to overturn a face mask ban.
Thousands of protesters staged unsanctioned marches and flashmob protests at multiple locations on Saturday, a day after the city's leader outlawed face coverings at protests, invoking colonial-era emergency powers not used for half a century.
The finance hub has been convulsed by widespread chaos in recent days as hardcore protesters trashed dozens of subway stations, vandalized shops, set fires and blocked roads.
Pro-democracy lawmakers are seeking an emergency injunction later Sunday in a bid to overturn the face mask ban and declare the emergency powers invalid because they bypass the city's legislature.
Last deployed in 1967, the powers allow chief executive Carrie Lam to make "any regulations whatsoever" during a time of public danger.
The move was welcomed by government supporters and Beijing.
But opponents and protesters saw it as the start of a slippery slope tipping the international finance hub into authoritarianism.
"I would say this is one of the most important constitutional cases in the history of Hong Kong," lawmaker Dennis Kwok told reporters outside court on Sunday.
"This could be the very last constitutional fight on our part. In the name of law they are trying to hurt the people and they try to crush the opposition.
"If this emergency law just gets a pass just like that Hong Kong will be deemed into a very black hole."
2 TEEN PROTESTERS SHOT
Hong Kong has been battered by four months of huge and increasingly violent pro-democracy protests.
The rallies were ignited by a now-scrapped plan to allow extraditions to the mainland, which fuelled fears of an erosion of liberties promised under the 50-year "one country, two systems" model China agreed ahead of the 1997 handover by Britain.
After Beijing and local leaders took a hard line, the demonstrations snowballed into a wider movement calling for more democratic freedoms and police accountability.
Lam has refused major concessions but struggled to come up with any political solution, leaving police and demonstrators to fight increasingly violent battles as the city tips into recession.
The worst clashes to date erupted on Tuesday as China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party rule, with a teenager shot and wounded by police as he attacked an officer.
A 14-year-old boy was then shot and wounded on Friday night when a plainclothes police officer who was surrounded by a mob of protesters throwing petrol bombs fired his sidearm.
That night masked protesters went on a rampage in dozens of locations, trashing subway stations and businesses with mainland China ties.
The city's subway system -- which carries four million people daily -- was shut down entirely on Friday night and throughout Saturday, bringing much of the metropolis to a halt.
Major supermarket chains and malls announced they were closing leading to long lines and panic buying as residents stocked up on essentials.
Thousands of masked protesters still came out onto the streets throughout Saturday despite the mask ban and transport gridlock, although the crowds were smaller than recent rallies.
SUBWAY PARTIALLY REOPENS
On Sunday, the subway operator said 45 stations would open but 48 remained shuttered, many of them in the heart of the city's main tourist districts as well as those neighborhoods areas hit hardest by the protests and vandalism.
Online forums used by the largely leaderless protest movement to organize were encouraging protesters to hold an unsanctioned rally in the city's Victoria Park later Sunday.
But with most of the stations in that area of the city closed it was unclear if they would be able to muster decent numbers.
Lam has defended her use of the emergency powers and says she is willing to make more executive orders if the violence continues.
"We cannot allow rioters any more to destroy our treasured Hong Kong," Lam said in a stony-faced video statement on Saturday.
But protesters have vowed to keep hitting the streets.
"The anti-face mask law is the first step," Hosun Lee, a protester in Causeway Bay, told AFP, saying he feared more laws under the emergency order were on the way.
Protester demands include an independent inquiry into the police, an amnesty for the more than 2,000 people arrested and universal suffrage -- all requests rejected by Lam and Beijing.
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HONG KONG - Hong Kong's metro system will stay shut on Saturday, the rail operator said, paralyzing transport in the Asian financial hub after a night of chaos in which police shot a teenage boy and pro-democracy protesters torched businesses and metro stations.
Friday's protests across the Chinese-ruled city erupted hours after its embattled leader Carrie Lam invoked colonial-era emergency powers last used more than 50 years ago to ban face masks, which demonstrators use to conceal their identities.
Increasingly violent demonstrations that have roiled the city for four months began in opposition to a bill introduced in April that would have allowed extradition to mainland China but have since spiraled into a broader pro-democracy movement.
MTR Corp said its network, which carries about 5 million passengers each day, would remain suspended, while shopping malls and supermarkets also closed, in a new blow for retailers and restaurants in a city on the edge of recession.
"As we are no longer in a position to provide safe and reliable service to passengers in the circumstances, the corporation had no choice but to make the decision to suspend the service of its entire network," it said in a statement.
Protesters had set fires at stations, as well as to an empty train, and injured two staff, added MTR, which is known for operating one of the world's most efficient rail networks.
All stations closed late on Friday, stranding passengers and forcing many to walk home, a situation set to worsen as the city goes into a holiday weekend.
Further demonstrations are planned across Hong Kong through Monday, which is a public holiday, but it was not immediately clear how the transport shutdown would affect them.
More than a dozen shopping malls, supermarkets, and branches of Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia , and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , which have been targeted by protesters, said they would not open on Saturday.
Lam, Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, said the ban on face masks that took effect from Saturday was ordered under emergency laws allowing authorities to "make any regulations whatsoever" in what they deem to be the public interest.
But the move enraged protesters, who took to the streets to vent their anger, many wearing masks in defiance of the ban. There were no immediate reports of arrests over the masks.
Demonstrators set fires, hurled petrol bombs at police and burned the Chinese national flag, in a direct challenge to authorities in Beijing.
Police said an officer in Yuen Long, a district in the outlying New Territories that saw fierce clashes in July, had fired a shot in self-defense after a protester threw a petrol bomb at him, setting him on fire.
Media said a 14-year-old boy had been shot and the city’s Hospital Authority said his condition was now stable, but gave no details.
About 100 demonstrators besieged a branch of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) in the high-end shopping district of Causeway Bay, while across the harbor in the district of Kowloon, protesters smashed the glass store front of a China Life branch.
Police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse protesters in flashpoint districts such as Causeway Bay, Sha Tin and Wong Tai Sin, underscoring the challenges authorities face as the protests show no sign of letting up.
Hospital authorities said 31 people were hurt in Friday's protests, two of them seriously.
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TAIPEI - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei and four other major Taiwanese cities on Sunday as part of a global "anti-totalitarianism rally" in support of Hong Kong protesters who have been demanding greater democracy for the last four months.
Similar rallies were held in over 40 other cities around the world including Berlin, Sydney and Tokyo.
In the capital Taipei, organizers said more than 100,000 showed up at a march that began outside the legislative compound and also ended there.
Braving heavy rain, participants chanted "Free Hong Kong" and "Taiwan with Hong Kong," with many holding placards critical of Beijing's proposal to use the "one country, two systems" formula for Taiwan.
Senior members of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which has long been identified with Taiwan independence, took part in the march.
Since June, there have been protests almost every weekend in Hong Kong, many turning violent, initially triggered by a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong people to be sent to mainland China for trial.
The protesters have now made a list of five demands, which include and independent inquiry into alleged police brutality and democratic reform.
The organizers of Sunday's march said that Taiwan and Hong Kong should object to "one China" and peace agreements with China. "One China" refers to Beijing's view that Taiwan is not a separate and independent country from mainland China.
They also called on Taiwan's government to establish a legal framework to shelter Hong Kong people who flee political persecution.
Before the march began, Hong Kong singer-activist Denise Ho was attacked by a Chinese man who poured a can of red paint over her head while she was talking to reporters.
Undaunted, Ho continued the interview and said she will not be intimidated by what she called "red terror."
"What such dramatic behavior tells us is that China wants us to shut up," Ho said. "But we will never back down because there is nowhere to go."
President Tsai Ing-wen criticized the perpetrators on her Facebook page, saying that her government will not tolerate such "violent disruption" and that no one should ever attempt to challenge Taiwan's democracy and rule of law.
Despite disagreeable weather, the march in Taipei attracted people from all walks of life and of different nationalities.
Also taking part in the march was Paul Lin, cofounder of the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps and a political commentator.
Lin was born in the Chinese city of Chongqing but fled to Hong Kong, where he became a journalist and a vocal critic of China. He and his Taiwanese wife relocated to the United States and then Taiwan, where he became a citizen.
Lin said what Taiwan can learn from Hong Kong is that the Communist Party of China is not at all trustworthy because it has no problem negating its commitment to Hong Kong.
Another participant, Daniel Lin, said he attended the march because he wanted Hong Kong people to know that Taiwanese people care about them.
The 37-year-old businessman who came to the event with his dog said he hopes all Hong Kong people will be able to enjoy the same level of individual freedom, security and human rights they had before the city was handed over to China in 1997.
Taiwan and mainland China have been governed separately since they split amid a civil war in 1949. Beijing has since then endeavored to diplomatically isolate Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province awaiting reunification.
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HONG KONG - Hong Kong was bracing for a weekend of unrest with pro-democracy protests likely to mount in the China-ruled territory ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic on Tuesday.
Thousands of people are expected to rally in the city center on Saturday evening after authorities granted a permit for a gathering at Tamar Park, next to the headquarters of Hong Kong's legislative council. The Asian financial hub marks the fifth anniversary this weekend of the start of the "Umbrella" protests, a series of pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014 that failed to wrest concessions from Beijing.
Rallies are also expected on Sunday to mark Global Anti-Totalitarianism Day, with solidarity events planned in cities across the world, including Paris, Berlin, Taipei, New York, Kiev, and London.
But the biggest protests are likely to be on the Oct 1 national day, with protesters saying they plan to use the holiday to propel calls for greater democracy on the international stage and to embarrass political masters in Beijing.
Activists plan a mass rally from Victoria Park in the bustling Causeway Bay district to Chater Garden near government headquarters.
Official festivities have been scaled back, with authorities keen to avoid embarrassing Beijing at a time when President Xi Jinping is seeking to project an image of national strength and unity.
Pro-Beijing rallies are also planned in the city, raising the prospect of clashes.
Hong Kong has been roiled by sometimes violent demonstrations for months, with protesters blocking roads and vandalizing metro stations and riot police firing tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannon at crowds.
Sparked by a bill – since withdrawn – that would have allowed extradition of suspected criminals to mainland China, the protests have since expanded into a broader pro-democracy movement.
Crowds chanting anti-government slogans trapped city leader Carrie Lam in a stadium for hours on Thursday after she held her first “open dialogue” with the people in bid to quell the unrest. More than four hours after the talks had ended, a convoy carrying Lam and other senior officials left the area under police guard.
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As pro-democracy protests grind on for a fourth month, Hong Kong has been left counting the cost, with the city’s tourist industry battered and businesses forced to lay off staff as they struggle to stay afloat.
Images beamed around the world of black-clad demonstrators battling police in full riot gear on streets usually lined with shoppers have led travelers to shun the financial hub.
And with protesters and the government showing no signs of backing down, there are worries things will not improve any time soon.
August witnessed the biggest fall in overseas visitors since the SARS epidemic of 2003 claimed nearly 300 lives and unleashed widespread panic in the city, according to government data.
Among the worst-hit areas is Causeway Bay, a normally bustling commercial precinct home to a slate of luxury brands where last weekend shoppers and bystanders were caught up as police fired volleys of tear gas at masked youths.
A neighborhood pharmacist, who asked to be identified only by his surname Chiu, told AFP the overseas customers who accounted for half his sales had slowed to a trickle since the protests began in June.
"The social atmosphere is not good," he said, adding that he has repeatedly had to shut his shop as tear gas canisters bounce down the street. Takings, he says, have tumbled 40-50 percent.
"Local customers also seem to buy less."
He said his business was faring worse than during 2014's Umbrella Movement, which saw the city grind to a standstill after a months-long blockade of busy roads.
Across Hong Kong, on-year tourist arrivals fell 40 percent in the last month, the city’s financial secretary Paul Chan said, led by a collapse in visitors from the mainland -- by far the largest group.
Hotel occupancy rates are down around half and the retail and dining sectors have been severely impacted.
"It is worrying that so far there is no sign of improvement in the near future," Chan wrote in a blog post.
'I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN SURVIVE'
Adding to the problems for Hong Kong, the long-running crisis has coincided with weak global demand and the grinding China-US trade war.
Earlier this month Fitch downgraded the city's sovereign rating citing the protests.
Seasonally adjusted, the economy contracted by 0.4 percent in the second quarter -- most of which came before the pro-democracy rallies began -- while Chan also reported a 5.7-percent yearly fall in overall exports in the first half.
No one is looking forward to third-quarter statistics.
Crucially, the number of visitors from mainland China has tumbled after several full-throated condemnations of demonstrators by Beijing, which has likened the unrest to "terrorism".
The number of mainland tour groups to the city plunged 90 percent on-year in the first 10 days of September, Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong spokeswoman Jessica Wan told AFP.
Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific also reported an 11-percent yearly drop in passengers for August, when two occupations of the airport saw the blockade of departure gates and the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
The airport saw a 12.4-percent monthly drop in passengers -- some 850,000 fewer travelers.
Several other businesses told AFP their bottom lines had suffered through the long summer of discontent, sparked by a controversial extradition bill many fear would strengthen Beijing’s control over the city and further erode its cherished freedoms.
Since June, when more than a million people marched through the city to protest the measure, the manager of a watch store said he had been forced to lay off half of its workforce.
"You can see if you walk down the streets, several watch shops have been closed already," said the store's manager, surnamed Wong. "I’m pessimistic. I don’t know if we can survive through the new year."
The protests tend to break out over the weekends -- the two days his shop is usually at its busiest.
On the other side of the harbor in Mongkok, businesses said they were regularly shutting their doors early to avoid melees outside.
The area around the neon-soaked retail precinct has seen escalating violence, with demonstrators barricading main roads and vandalizing the local subway station -- and officers responding with baton charges.
At one late-night outdoor market stall, a vendor selling imitation designer handbags said her takings were down five-fold from average sales at the start of the year.
With no end in sight, Chiu, the pharmacist, seemed to be torn between his sympathies for the protesters and protecting his livelihood.
"I don't support them damaging facilities, but I feel awful seeing them being beaten by police," he told AFP.
He said he and his staff had left supplies of water outside his shop for protesters during street rallies, knowing other stores had closed.
"I support the youngsters," he said. "But I also have a business to run."
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HONG KONG - Hong Kong police fired water cannon and volleys of tear gas to disperse protesters throwing petrol bombs at government buildings on Sunday, as months of sometimes violent demonstrations showed no sign of letting up.
Some protesters threw bricks at police outside the Chinese People's Liberation Army base in the city's Admiralty district, and tore down and set fire to a red banner proclaiming the 70th anniversary on Oct. 1 of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in a direct challenge to Beijing.
One water cannon caught fire after being hit by a petrol bomb. The water cannon fired blue jets of water, used elsewhere in the world to help identify protesters later.
"Radical protesters are currently occupying Harcourt Road in Admiralty, vandalizing Central Government Offices and repeatedly throwing petrol bombs inside," police said in a statement.
Thousands of protesters, many clad in black masks, caps and shades to obscure their identity, raced through the streets of the financial hub in cat-and-mouse tactics with police, setting street fires and blocking roads in the heart of the city.
Authorities moved quickly to douse the fires and police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse protesters, including in the bustling shopping and tourist district of Causeway Bay.
Violence erupted in the district of Fortress Hill on the east of the island as men in white T-shirts, some wielding rods, clashed with anti-government activists.
A heavy police presence could be seen in and around subway stations. Rail operator MTR Corp has become a prime target of vandalism, with activists angry that it closes stations during protests and prevents demonstrators from gathering.
Shops in key protest areas once again shuttered early as more than three months of demonstrations continued to take a toll on business.
The Airport Authority said on Sunday passenger numbers fell 12.4% year-on-year in August to six million. Protesters last month jammed the airport arrivals hall, leading to canceled or delayed flights as they sought to draw world attention to their fight for democracy.
But while chaotic scenes of protesters clashing with police have been beamed live to the world - at times under gleaming skyscrapers in the heart of the financial center - life for many in the Chinese-ruled territory proceeds relatively normally.
BRITISH CONSULATE RALLY
While the turnout on Sunday was smaller than previous weekends, the unrest underscores the defiance of many activists.
Demonstrators are angry about what they see as creeping interference by Beijing in their city's affairs despite a promise of autonomy.
The spark for the protests was planned legislation, now withdrawn, that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial.
The protests have since broadened into calls for universal suffrage.
Earlier on Sunday, protesters gathered peacefully outside the British Consulate, calling on Britain to rein in China and ensure it respects the city's freedoms.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed in 1984, lays out Hong Kong's future after its return to China in 1997, a "one country, two systems" formula that ensures freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland.
"Sino-British Joint Declaration is VOID," one placard read in the protest outside the British Consulate.
"SOS Hong Kong," read another.
"One country, two systems is dead," protesters shouted in English under umbrellas shielding them from the sub-tropical sun, some carrying the colonial flag also bearing the Union Jack. "Free Hong Kong."
China says it is committed to the arrangement, denies meddling and says the city is an internal Chinese issue. It has accused foreign powers, particularly the United States and Britain, of fomenting the unrest and told them to mind their own business.
Britain says it has a legal responsibility to ensure China abides by the 1984 declaration.
Hong Kong island was granted to Britain "in perpetuity" in 1842 at the end of the First Opium War. Kowloon, a peninsula on the mainland opposite Hong Kong island, joined later, after the Second Opium War.
The colony was expanded to include the New Territories, to the north of Kowloon, on a 99-year lease, in 1898.
Britain returned all of the territories to China, which never recognized the "unequal treaties", in 1997.
"The Joint Declaration is a legally binding treaty between the UK and China that remains as valid today as it was when it was signed and ratified over 30 years ago," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said in June.
"As a co-signatory, the UK government will continue to defend our position."
But it was not immediately clear what Britain could or would want to do to defend that position.
It is pinning its hopes on closer trade and investment cooperation with China, which since 1997 has risen to become the world's second-largest economy, after it leaves the European Union at the end of next month.
(Additional reporting by Twinnie Siu, Alun John, Jessie Pang, Jorge Silva, Farah Master and Clare Jim; Writing by Nick Macfie and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Robert Birsel, Himani Sarkar and Jan Harvey)
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HONG KONG - Hong Kong activists called off protests on Wednesday in remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and denounced a Chinese state newspaper report that they were planning "massive terror" in the Chinese-ruled city.
Hong Kong has been rocked by months of sometimes violent unrest, prompted by anger over planned legislation to allow extraditions to China, but broadening into calls for democracy and for Communist rulers in Beijing to leave the city alone.
"Anti-government fanatics are planning massive terror attacks, including blowing up gas pipes, in Hong Kong on September 11," the Hong Kong edition of the China Daily said on its Facebook page, alongside a picture of the hijacked airliner attacks on the twin towers in New York.
"The 9/11 terror plot also encourages indiscriminate attacks on non-native speakers of Cantonese and starting mountain fires." The post said "leaked information was part of the strategy being schemed by radical protesters in their online chat rooms."
The former British colony of Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that guarantees freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent legal system, triggering the anger over the extradition bill.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has said she would withdraw the bill but many Hong Kong residents fear Beijing is steadily eroding the autonomy of the Asian financial hub.
China denies meddling and has accused the United States, Britain and others of fomenting the unrest.
"We don’t even need to do a fact check to know that this is fake news," said one protester, Michael, 24, referring to the China Daily post.
"The state media doesn’t care about its credibility. Whenever something they claimed to have heard on WhatsApp or friends’ friends, they will spread it right away."
The protesters called off action on Wednesday.
"In solidarity against terrorism, all forms of protest in Hong Kong will be suspended on Sept. 11, apart from potential singing and chanting," they said in a statement.
The China Daily report was worrying, said another protester, Karen, 23. "When they try to frame the whole protest with those words, it alarms me," she said. "They are predicting rather than reporting. I think people calling it off today is a nice move."
FAMILY FRICTIONS
The chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Women, Pansy Ho, a prominent businesswoman and daughter of Macau casino operator Stanley Ho, said she was worried about violent extremism.
"Children of all ages are indoctrinated with police hatred and anti-establishment beliefs at school and online mobilized to conduct massive school strikes," she told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Lam said in a speech on Wednesday that Hong Kong was grappling with significant challenges.
"My fervent hope is that we can bridge our divide by upholding the one country, two systems principle, and the Basic Law, and through the concerted efforts of the government and the people of Hong Kong," she told business leaders.
The Basic Law is Hong Kong's mini constitution.
Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd has become the biggest corporate casualty of the unrest after China demanded it suspend staff involved in, or who support, the protests.
Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday inbound traffic to Hong Kong in August fell 38 percent and outbound traffic 12 percent compared to a year earlier, and that it did not anticipate September to be any less difficult.
Joshua Wong, one of the prominent leaders of the 2014 "Umbrella" pro-democracy movement which brought key streets in Hong Kong to a standstill for 79 days, said in Berlin that the fight for democracy was an uphill battle.
"I hope one day not only Hong Kong people, but also people in mainland China, can enjoy freedom and democracy," he said.
The protests spread to the sports field on Tuesday, as many football fans defied Chinese law to boo the national anthem ahead of a soccer World Cup qualifier against Iran.
Several peaceful protests are planned for the next few days, combining with celebrations marking the Mid-Autumn Festival.
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HONG KONG - Global credit rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Hong Kong's long-term foreign currency issuer default rating to "AA" from "AA+" after months of unrest and protests in the region.
Hong Kong's rating outlook is negative, Fitch Ratings said on Friday.
Increasingly violent protests have roiled the Asian financial hub as thousands chafe at a perceived erosion of freedoms and autonomy under Chinese rule.
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SINGAPORE - Singapore's hotel occupancy rates have climbed to their highest in over a decade as travellers and business events switched from Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protests have slammed tourist numbers and wider business sentiment.
Data released on Monday by Singapore's tourism board showed average occupancy rates in the city-state's hotels hit 93.8 percent in July, the highest in records going back to 2005, and up from 92.5 percent a year ago.
The data also showed the highest revenue per room in almost 4 years, a trend analysts and hoteliers said was helped by conferences switching from rival business hub Hong Kong as protests that started in mid-June turned increasingly violent.
"Singapore may benefit twice as much from the Hong Kong fallout as both these destinations share similar traits," said Derek Tan, an analyst at Singapore's biggest bank DBS, citing businesses switching conference venues from Hong Kong.
The Global Wellness Summit, a gathering of around 600 health and beauty industry delegates scheduled for mid-October recently said it was moving to Singapore from Hong Kong. The event's spokeswoman said this was "to ensure travel is as seamless as possible."
Marcus Hanna, general manager of Singapore hotels, Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford, said he had a 60-strong business group last month switch from Hong Kong for a five-night stay.
Hanna said his hotels, which offer conference and meeting facilities, have received a number of inquiries from companies looking to move events out of Hong Kong amid the unrest.
Jefferies analyst Krishna Guha said events in Hong Kong would have been a factor in lifting Singapore's hospitality sector. Revenue per available room, a key performance metric for the hotel industry, rose to S$203.7 in July, its highest since October 2015, and from S$200.2 in July 2018.
He said the unrest would have weighed on tourists' summer travel plans, while other factors included tightening hotel supply in Singapore during its peak season for North Asian visitors and a weaker Singapore dollar.
In Hong Kong, the city's airport has suffered repeated disruptions due to demonstrations and hotel operators have reported lower occupancy rates and booking cancellations. Many countries such as Singapore have advised their citizens to defer non-essential travel to the former British colony.
"The outlook remains bleak for September and the rest of the year for destination Hong Kong," said Alicia Seah of travel agency Dynasty Travel, adding that inquiries and bookings have come to a "standstill" since last month's airport shutdown.
"There are now spillover effects...with both leisure and business travellers opting to travel to Singapore instead of Hong Kong."
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BEIJING - Spanish apparel giant Zara, seeking to avoid becoming embroiled in controversy over protests in Hong Kong, issued a statement on Chinese social media late on Monday expressing support for China's sovereignty over the Asian financial hub.
Zara made its statement after the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao asked in a headline whether the closure of four of the company's Hong Kong shops on Monday was in support of a strike call by students, a question that was seized upon by mainland social media users.
Zara, owned by Inditex, said it supported the "one country, two systems" policy under which China rules Hong Kong, and had not supported strikes.
It was not immediately clear why Zara closed the stores on Monday, as reported by Ming Pao, although shops in Hong Kong have often shut their doors when protests are taking place nearby.
Zara did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
The brand became a top trending topic on China's Weibo social media platform, with one hashtag "Zara statement" viewed more than 170 million times as of Tuesday morning.
On Monday, thousands of Hong Kong university and school students boycotted class and rallied peacefully for democracy, following a weekend marred by some of the worst violence since unrest escalated more than three months ago.
Foreign brands are under increasing pressure from Chinese consumers and regulators to fall into line on contentious issues around Chinese sovereignty and its territorial claims.
Last month, a number of Chinese brand ambassadors of fashion labels from Coach to Givenchy severed ties with the companies over products which they said violated China's sovereignty by identifying Hong Kong and Taiwan as countries.
Last year, Zara was criticized on Chinese social media for placing Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China sees as a break-away province, in a pull-down list of countries on its Chinese website.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Flight check-in services have been suspended at Hong Kong's international airport, the airport authority said on Tuesday, citing disruptions caused by anti-government protests.
Increasingly violent protests have plunged the Asian financial hub into its most serious political crisis in decades, posing a challenge to the central government in Beijing.
The Airport Authority (AA) halted all flights to and from the airport on Monday, and flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways said on Tuesday it had suspended all check-ins.
"Terminal operations at Hong Kong International Airport have been seriously disrupted as a result of the public assembly at the airport today," the AA said, adding that check-in service for departing flights has been suspended since 4:30 pm local time.
In a separate statement, Cathay Pacific said: "There is potential for further flight disruptions at short notice."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
