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(800) LA TIMESFounded Dec. 4, 1881
Vol. CXXXVIII No. 253
LOS ANGELES TIMES (ISSN 0458-3035)
is published by the Los Angeles Times,
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section publishes. This will result in
shortening the length of your billing
period.Printed with soy-based ink on recycled newsprint from wood byproducts.with no softening of hands or
any sign of mercy,” said Yang
Guang of Beijing’s highest
government office for Hong
Kong affairs. “Hong Kong
has arrived at a critical
point.”
For a time, his words
seemed to set the stage for a
clash with police.
Rumors that police were
on the way prompted a mass
exodus of protesters, but by
midnight those fears had
subsided.
More than 300 additional
flights were canceled Tues-
day, though airport staff be-
gan rescheduling flights in
the morning.
Demonstrators said they
planned to return to the air-
port Tuesday afternoon for a
fifth straight day.
The protest movement
began in early June with a se-
ries of peaceful demon-
strations against an extradi-
tion bill that critics saw as a
threat to Hong Kong’s rule of
law and freedom of speech. It
quickly morphed into a
much wider campaign
against police violence and
unwanted Chinese influence
over Hong Kong.
Protests now are chaotic,
near-daily confrontations
among police, protesters,
residents and organized
gangs on the streets. More
than 700 people have been
arrested.
Monday’s airport rally
came a day after police fired
large amounts of tear gas in
clashes across Hong Kong,
beat protesters in subway
stations and shot one wom-
an in the eye with a bean bag
round while she was per-
forming first aid.
Police also dressed up as
protesters, wearing black
clothing and yellow hard
hats, to surprise and arrest
protesters. One widely
shared video shows an
undercover policeman
grinding a protester’s face
into the ground, blood pool-
ing around the protester’s
jaws as he cries that his teeth
are falling out.
Police spokesman P.K.
Tang said in a news briefing
that “decoy operatives” had
been used to arrest “core
radicals.”
Protesters filled both ar-
rival and departure termi-
nals of the airport Monday,
holding up signs against po-
lice violence and chanting,
“Dirty cops, return her eye.”
Many said they’d chosen
the airport as a protest site
because police were lesslikely to fire tear gas and
charge protesters in the
presence of international
travelers.
One protester, Indica
Lau, handed out postcards
about police violence to
tourists.
“I wish to do something
more, to try telling the world
what’s happening in Hong
Kong,” said the 25-year-old
graphic designer.
She called the flight can-
cellations a “success” but
said she was worried about
another confrontation and
was leaving the airport.
Another protester, Ah
Choi, 21, said the airport
shutdown was aimed at
pressing government au-
thorities to address de-
mands for police account-
ability.
“I want them to tell citi-zens directly what hap-
pened,” he said, referring to
allegations of police abuse of
force.
One small police stall at
the airport was covered with
sticky notes and signs read-
ing, “Hong Kong police kills
citizens” and “Hong Kong is
no longer safe.”
“An eye for an eye” was
scrawled on a wall.
Beijing has also sent a
message to Hong Kong’s
business sector about Chi-
na’s ability to mete out econ-
omic punishment for politi-
cal disobedience by target-
ing Hong Kong’s biggest air-
line, Cathay Pacific.
On Friday, China’s Civil
Aviation Administration an-
nounced that it would ban
Cathay Pacific employees
from flying on mainland Chi-
nese routes if they participa-ted in “illegal demon-
strations, protests and vi-
olent attacks,” or if they had
“radical behaviors.”
China’s aviation regula-
tion body also requested
background information on
all crew members for ap-
proval before mainland
flights.
In late July, a Cathay Pa-
cific pilot had told passen-
gers about anti-extradition
protests over the intercom
as he landed a flight from
Japan, finishing the an-
nouncement with “Hong
Kongers, add oil.”
Cathay Pacific Chief Exe-
cutive Rupert Hogg wrote in
a staff memo Saturday that
the company was legally
obliged to comply with Chi-
na’s requirements. The air-
line also confirmed Sat-
urday that it had fired a Ca-thay pilot, one of 44 pro-
testers recently charged
with rioting,and warned on
Monday that any staff tak-
ing part in protests could be
fired.
On Monday, as the shut-
down announcement
spread, protesters tried to
leave the airport, a trans-
port hub built on a small is-
land connected to Hong
Kong’s main city by train
and bridge, in fear they
would soon be stranded.
Thousands began walk-
ing toward a mass transit
station as roads were
jammed with traffic.
Airline staff began to
evacuate the airport as
night fell, leaving check-in
counters empty. A handful of
flights continued to arrive.
A mainland Chinese
woman from Hangzhou who
refused to give her name
said she knew “a little bit”
about the protests but
didn’t think they were rele-
vant to her.
“We travelers are the
most innocent. We’re just
stranded here for no reason
at all. No one cares and no
one asks about us,” she said,
glancing at the crowds of
mostly young protesters in
black T-shirts. “I just want
to go home.”
Later in the night, the
crowd began to grow again
as protesters returned to the
airport. Some pushed shop-
ping carts around, handing
out cheeseburgers, protec-
tive goggles and leaflets to
stranded travelers.Times staff writer Su
reported from Beijing and
special correspondent Chor
from Hong Kong.Hong Kong sees new levels of disarray
[Hong Kong,from A1]
PROTESTERSjam the Hong Kong airport, where thousands occupied the terminals in a peaceful sit-in.
“Revolution of our times!” some chanted as travelers pushing suitcases tried to figure out where to go.Manan VatsyayanaAFP/Getty ImagesMOSCOW — Thousands
of Russians attended the fu-
nerals Monday of five nucle-
ar engineers killed by an ex-
plosion as they tested a new
rocket, a tragedy that fueled
radiation fears and raised
new questions about a secre-
tive weapons program.
The engineers, who died
Thursday, were laid to rest
Monday in Sarov, which
hosts Russia’s main nuclear
weapons research center,
where they worked. Flags
flew at half-staff in the
closed city 230 miles east of
Moscow, which has served as
a base for Russia’s nuclear
weapons program since the
late 1940s.
The coffins were dis-
played in Sarov’s main
square before being driven
to a cemetery.
The Defense Ministry ini-tially said the explosion at
the navy’s testing range in
Nyonoksa in the northwest-
ern Arkhangelsk region
killed two people and in-
jured six others, but the
state-controlled Rosatom
nuclear concern acknowl-
edged over the weekend that
the blast also killed five of its
workers and injured three
others.
Rosatom director Alexei
Likhachev praised the vic-
tims as “true heroes” and “a
pride of our country.”
“Our further work on new
weapons that we will cer-
tainly complete will be the
best tribute to them,”
Likhachev said during the
funeral, according to
Rosatom.
“We will fulfill the
motherland’s orders and
fully protect its security.”
Rosatom said the explo-
sion occurred while the engi-
neers were testing a “nuclear
isotope power source” for a
rocket engine. Authorities in
nearby Severodvinsk re-
ported a brief rise in radi-
ation levels after the explo-
sion, saying it lasted only
about 30 minutes and didn’t
pose any hazard.
Still, the statement from
Severodvinsk’s administra-
tion came just as the De-
fense Ministry insisted that
no radiation had been re-
leased, a claim that drew
comparisons to Soviet-era
attempts to cover up catas-
trophes.Residents rushed to buy
iodide, which can help limit
the damage from radiation
exposure.
After the explosion, au-
thorities also closed part of
Dvina Bay on the White Sea
to shipping for a month, in
what could be an attempt to
prevent outsiders from see-
ing the recovery of the mis-
sile debris.
Neither the Defense Min-
istry nor Rosatom men-
tioned the type of rocket
that exploded during the
test, saying only that it had
liquid propellant.
But Rosatom’s mention
of a “nuclear isotope power
source” led some Russian
media to conclude it was the
Burevestnik, a nuclear-pow-
ered cruise missile first re-
vealed by President Vladi-
mir Putin in March 2018 dur-
ing his state of the nation ad-
dress.
The U.S. and the Soviet
Union considered nuclear-
powered missiles in the
1960s, but they abandoned
them as too unstable and
dangerous.
Putin said the new mis-
sile would have an unlimited
range, allowing it to circle
the globe unnoticed, bypass-
ing the enemy’s missile de-
fense assets to strike unde-
tected.
The president said the
missile had successfully
undergone the first tests,
but observers were skepti-
cal, arguing that such a
weapon could be very diffi-
cult to handle and harmful
to the environment.
Sergei Kirienko, Putin’s
deputy chief of staff who pre-
viously led Rosatom, said at
the funeral that the victims
were aware of the danger but
“took the risk, realizing that
no one else would do the job
better than them.” He said
they would be post-
humously honored.Russian blast victims mourned
Deaths of 5 nuclear
engineers who were
testing a new rocket
raise questions about
weapons program.
associated press
MOURNERSgather in Sarov, Russia, for the funerals of five nuclear engineers
who were killed in the explosion of a test rocket in the Arkhangelsk region.Associated PressSEOUL — South Korea
said Monday that it has de-
cided to remove Japan from
alist of nations receiving
preferential treatment in
trade in what was seen as a
tit-for-tat move after
Tokyo’s recent decision to
downgrade Seoul’s trade
status amid a diplomatic
row.
It wasn’t immediately
clear how South Korea’s
tightened export controls
would affect bilateral trade.
Seoul said some South Kore-
an companies exporting to
Japan will be able to receive
exceptions from case-by-
case inspections that are
normally applied on sensi-
tive shipments to nations
with lower trade status and
go through the same fast-
track approval process they
now enjoy.
Masahisa Sato, Japan’s
vice minister for foreign af-
fairs, said he believes the ef-
fect of Seoul’s move would
probably be limited as Japan
doesn’t import much sensi-
tive material from South Ko-
rea.
Japan provided similar
exceptions while removing
South Korea as a favored
trade partner, which eased
some of the fears in Seoul
about a possible blow to its
export-dependent economy,
in which many manufactur-
ers heavily rely on parts and
materials imported from
Japan.
After spending weeks be-
rating Tokyo for allegedly
weaponizing trade and vow-
ing retaliation, South Kore-
an President Moon Jae-in
struck a more conciliatory
tone Monday, saying his gov-
ernment will refrain from
“emotional” reactions to
Japan over the trade dis-
pute.
“While maintaining un-
wavering resolve and calm-
ness, we need a long-term
approach to look for funda-
mental countermeasures,”
Moon said in a meeting with
senior aides.
South Korea’s trade min-
ister, Sung Yun-mo, said
Seoul decided to remove
Japan from a 29-member
“white list” of countries that
enjoy minimum restrictions
in trade because it has failed
to uphold international
principles while managingits export controls on sensi-
tive materials. Sung and
other South Korean officials
did not specify what they
saw as Tokyo’s problems in
export controls.
Sato said South Korea
would be violating World
Trade Organization rules if
it was retaliating against
Japan’s earlier measures.
Park Tae-sung, a South Ko-
rean trade official, said
South Korea is making a le-
gitimate effort under do-
mestic and international
laws to improve its export
controls.
South Korea divides its
trade partners into two
groups while managing the
exports of sensitive materi-
als that can be used both for
civilian and military pur-
poses.
Seoul will create a new in-
between bracket where it
plans to place only Japan,
which “in principle” will re-
ceive the same treatment as
the non-favored nations in
what’s now the second
group, Sung said.
South Korea’s govern-
ment requires companies to
go through case-by-case ap-
provals to export sensitive
items to non-favored na-
tions, which typically take 15
days. However, Seoul also
plans to grant exceptions to
South Korean companies
exporting to Japanese part-
ners under long-term deals
and allow them to continue
using a fast-track approval
process that takes about five
days.
South Korean officials
didn’t clearly explain why
they created a special
bracket for Japan instead of
grouping it with other non-
favored nations. They said
Seoul will work to minimize
negative effects on South
Korean exporters and bilat-
eral trade.
Sung said the changes
are expected to take effect
sometime in September, af-
ter a 20-day period for gath-
ering public opinion on the
issue and further regulatory
and legal reviews. He said
South Korea is willing to ac-
cept any request by Tokyo
for consultation over the is-
sue during the opinion-gath-
ering period, but officials
didn’t say whether Seoul’s
decision will be negotiable.
South Korea’s announce-
ment came weeks after
Japan’s Cabinet approved
the removal of South Korea
from a list of countries with
preferential trade status,
citing an erosion of trust and
unspecified security con-
cerns surrounding Seoul’s
export controls.South Korea to
remove Japan from
preferred trade list
Tit-for-tat decision
comes after Tokyo’s
move to downgrade
Seoul’s status.
associated pressCuba travel:An article in
the Aug. 11 main news sec-
tion about tourism in Cuba
misspelled the name of a
fashion designer. It is Laila
Chaaban, not Chaabon.FOR THE
RECORD