Pro-democracy lawmaker Nathan Law has filed a police report after he was injured in a scuffle with pro-Beijing protesters at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday evening, as he returned from a seminar held with in Taiwan.
The Demosisto chairman was greeted by around a dozen protesters as he made his return to the city from Taiwan, where he had attended a political seminar. Protesters reportedly pushed the lawmaker and hurled unknown liquid as well as plastic bottles at him. Law slipped on some stairs amid the chaos and was later treated at North Lantau Hospital in his torn shirt, SCMP reports.
The young lawmaker has since filed a police complaint. He is expected to hold a press conference over the incident later today.
According to Cable TV, one of its cameramen had been hit on the head by protesters, whilst a photographer at local station Now TV injured his hand in the clashes. Police were immediately called in after being notified of the assaults.
Apple Daily reports that some in the protesting crowd could be seen communicating with each other through a WeChat group named “Jan. 6 & Jan. 8 … Airport Demonstration (20)”, and said they believed the incident was planned.
The incident drew criticism from both New Power Party and Hong Kong’s pan-democratic camp. New Power Party released a statement condemning the “inconceivable and radical violent event”, and called on Hong Kong authorities to protect the safety of every resident.
Twenty five outraged pan-democratic Hong Kong lawmakers released a joint statement opposing against the violent acts “under the banner of patriotism”. They questioned why the police had failed to prevent the violent incident from happening, urging them to take swift action against the responsible persons. Violence against journalists has severely hampered Hong Kong’s press freedom, the legislators said in the statement.
Law, who attended the Taiwan seminar with fellow lawmakers Eddie Chu and Edward Yiu, and student activist Joshua Wong, met with New Power Party chairman Huang Kuo-chang and some of Taiwan’s legislators to discuss how pro-democratic parties in Hong Kong and Taiwan could learn from each other.
Wong and Law were previously ambushed at HKIA by pro-Beijing protesters on Saturday, whilst they were leaving for Taipei, SCMP reports. One of the demonstrators attempted but failed to punched Wong while the others were chanting slogans accusing them of being traitors and colluding with the pro-independence camp in Taiwan. Following the incident, Taiwan police boosted security to protect the guests during their visit. Some pro-Beijing groups in Taiwan were said to be affiliated with local triads, said pro-independence Sunflower Movement leader Lin Fei-fan, who added that the violence was unprecedented.
