Hong Kong braces for more protests this weekend

Hong Kong is bracing for more demonstrations this weekend, with protesters threatening to disrupt transport links to the airport, after embattled leader Carrie Lam’s withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill failed to appease some activists.

Protesters plan to block traffic to the city’s international airport on Saturday.

This comes a week after thousands of demonstrators disrupted transport links, sparking some of the worst violence since the unrest escalated three months ago.

On Wednesday, Lam announced the withdrawal of the extradition bill, conceding one of the protesters’ five key demands, although many said the move was too little, too late.

The bill, which would have allowed people in the former British colony to be sent to mainland China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party, triggered mass protests that have since widened into a backlash against the Hong Kong government and its political masters in Beijing.

The massive, and sometimes violent, protests present Chinese President Xi Jinping with his greatest popular challenge since he came to power in 2012.