"Non-cooperation campaign" affects Hong Kong's transportation, public services: HKSAR gov't

Hong Kong's transportation, public services and people's daily lives were seriously affected by the "non-cooperation campaign", China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Monday.

An inter-departmental press conference on the impact of the campaign on Hong Kong society was held Monday by the HKSAR government, which called on protesters to respect other people's rights, freedom and safety.

The Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. [File photo: IC]

Frank Chan Fan, Secretary for Transport and Housing of the HKSAR government, told the press conference that protesters called for a region-wide strike and "non-cooperation campaign" Monday to completely block the subway operation and thoroughfares, and to hamper air traffic, affecting commuting of local residents and tourists seriously, in some cases, even triggering physical altercations.

Chan said that some individuals put trolleys, bicycles and metal objects on railways, which was extremely dangerous and could lead to serious incidents, posing severe threat on passengers' lives.

"This should be strongly condemned," he said.

The Transport Department said that 15 roads, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, Eastern Harbour Tunnel and Lion Rock Tunnel had once been blocked, and 70 bus services were forcibly re-routed or suspended, along with eight subway lines seriously affected.

The Civil Aviation Department said the operation of the Hong Kong International Airport had also been affected, as some passengers and airline staff failed to reach the airport on schedule due to the hampered land and railway transport.

According to the Airport Authority, as of 2:00 p.m. local time, 465 flights inbound or outbound had been handled, while 77 were cancelled.

The Fire Services Department said road blockages by protesters had affected its emergency services.

Other public and social services including meals delivery for elderly people remained normal but it took more time for some welfare organizations to deliver the meals due to the traffic gridlock, according to the Social Welfare Department.

Operations of public hospitals remained normal in general on Monday, while commuting of both staff and patients were affected, the Hospital Authority said.