Section:GDN 1N PaGe:33 Edition Date:190829 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 28/8/2019 18:57 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Thursday 29 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
World^33
Protesters in Hong Kong condemn Cathay
Pacifi c fi rings amid pressure from Beijing
Tania Branigan
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered
in Hong Kong yesterday to denounce
Cathay Pacifi c for fi ring staff after the
airline came under pressure from
Beijing.
Businesses, pushed to voice sup-
port for the authorities, face a backlash
from employees and customers who
see the pressure as part of a broad strat-
egy to wear down opposition after
two-and-a-half months of protests
sparked by a controversial extradi-
tion bill.
“It’s not just an issue for Cathay.
They want to [persuade] the pub-
lic that if you go on a demonstration
you may be punished; even if you are
not arrested, you might lose employ-
ment opportunities. They are trying to
expand the fear which is already huge
in Hong Kong,” said one demonstrator.
Protest ers, many from the aviation
industry, rallied in the fi nancial district
before marching to the headquarters of
Swire Pacifi c , the airline’s controlling
shareholder. Later last night, thou-
sands attended a rally against alleged
sexual violence by police against
participants in the movement.
The airline was caught in the polit-
ical storm when one of its pilots was
charged over a protest. Its chair-
man initially said that “we certainly
wouldn’t dream of telling [our staff ]
what they have to think about some-
thing”. But China’s aviation authoritytold the airline it would have to remove
any staff involved in, or supportive of,
protests from fl ights over its airspace.
A state-owned bank rated Cathay
stock a strong sell and Chinese fi rms
withdrew business. The pilot was
sacked and the airline’s chief execu-
tive, Rupert Hogg , quit.
Last week, the chair of the fl ight
attendants’ union at the subsidiary
Cathay Dragon said she had been
fi red after managers presented her
with copies of protest-related Face-
book posts; the Confederation of Trade
Unions plans a legal challenge.
Cathay, which said that the meas-
ure was not related to her union
activities, reiterated before the rally
that it upheld Hong Kong’s rights and
freedoms but had a zero-toleranceapproach “to any support for or par-
ticipation in illegal protests, violent
activities or overly radical behaviour”.
The pressure on the company was
unprecedented, said David Webb , a
shareholder activist and founder of
Webb-site , which reports on Hong
Kong affairs, adding that he wasdismayed rather than surprised by
the outcome. “Individually, I under-
stand why companies don’t speak up.
Collectively, they should,” he said,
suggesting chambers of commerce
should take a stronger stand.
A fifth of Cathay’s business is
thought to be to the mainland – where
Swire also has substantial interests- and almost all other fl ights pass
through its airspace.
Jean-Pierre Cabestan , a political sci-
ence professor at Hong Kong Baptist
University , described the pressure on
companies as a “turning point”.
Last weekend the MTR rail system
closed stations along protest routes. It
said it was protecting staff and passen-
gers, but activists noted the decision
came shortly after mainland state
media accused it of having “arranged
special trains for rioters to escape” and
asked whether it was “an accomplice
to rioters”.
“If we don’t protest now we won’t
be allowed to in future,” said one
teacher who had turned out to sup-
port the aviation workers.
Shanghai shopping
jams force new US
store to shut early
Reuters
Shanghai
Costco has said it will limit numbers of
shoppers at its fi rst store in China after
overcrowding forced the US retailer to
shut early on the opening day.
No more than 2,000 people at any
given time will be allowed into the
store in Shanghai, and police will help
to improve the fl ow of traffi c nearby.
Large numbers of shoppers fl ocked
to the store when it opened on Tues-
day. Images online showed them
clambering to get in, jostling to grab
roasted chickens and meat and wait-
ing in long queues at checkouts. Local
media said the store also off ered prod-
ucts such as designer handbags and
foreign beauty products.
“We’d like to apologise for the
inconvenience caused to our mem-
bers on our warehouse opening day in
Shanghai,” Costco said on WeChat, the
Chinese social media platform.
It pledged to send text messages to
shoppers when the store was nearing
capacity or if there were long queues.
Costco is to limit the number of
shoppers at its fi rst branch in China
PHOTOGRAPH: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/GETTY
Russia denies ordering killing
of Chechen exile in Germany
Philip Oltermann
Shaun Walker
The Russian government denied
responsibility yesterday for the kill-
ing of a Chechen exile in a Berlin park.
Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was
shot twice in the head from close
range in Kleiner Tiergarten park just
before midday last Friday. German
authorities have voiced suspicions of
a Russian state-backed attack similar
to that carried out against Sergei Skri-
pal, a former Russian military offi cer,
and his daughter, in Salisbury in 2018.
He survived two assassination
attempts in Georgia, one by poison
in 2009 and one where he was shot at
eight times while driving in May 2015.
Associates of Khangoshvili said he
commanded a fi ghting unit againstRussian troops between 1999 and
2004, during the second Chechen
war. After the confl ict h e was used as
a mediator by the anti-terror unit of the
Georgian interior ministry. He contin-
ued to help the Chechen insurgency
and was still regarded as a terrorist by
Russia’s intelligence agency, the FSB..
From his base in Georgia, Khango-
shvili helped to send supplies over
the mountains into Chechnya and to
evacuate wounded fi ghters, said asso-
ciates. However, they insisted he was
not a radical or an Islamist. “He was
always against Chechens going to fi ght
in Syria or Afghanistan; he thought
our only battle was with Russia,” said
a friend, Saikhan Muzayev.A suspect, named in German media
only as Vadim S , was arrested by Berlin
police. He denies responsibility for the
killing. According to Bild, the suspect
requested to speak to a representative
of the Russian embassy.
Two 17-year-olds told police they
had seen a man throwing a bicycle, a
wig and a Glock handgun into the river.
Ekkehard Maaß , of the German-
Caucasian Society, said he met
Khangoshvili when he arrived in Ger-
many in 2016. “Zelimkhan thought
now he was in Germany he would be
safe, and every Friday took the same
route from home to the mosque. He
must have been noticed, and the infor-
mation passed to the killer,” he said.Khangoshvili, who lived in Berlin
under a pseudonym, leaves behind
three daughters and two sons , aged
between two and 17.
The Kremlin denies any involve-
ment. “I categorically reject any link
between this incident, this murder and
offi cial Russia,” said Vladimir Putin’s
spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
Citing unnamed sources, Der
Spiegel said German security agen-
cies were increasingly confi dent that
Russia’s signature could be detected.
“If it turns out that a state player like
Russia is behind this, we have a sec-
ond Skripal case on our hands, with
everything that entails,” the magazine
quoted one source as saying.‘They want to show if
you protest you may
be punished. They’re
expanding the fear’Demonstrator
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