Hong Kong airport: Riot police moving in; more vans stationed outside

Protesters clashed with police at Hong Kong's international airport on Tuesday evening after flights were disrupted for a second day, plunging the former British colony deeper into turmoil.

The scuffles broke out in the evening between police and protesters, after an injured person was taken out of the main terminal by medics. Protesters claimed that the man was a Chinese police personnel. Several police vehicles were blocked by protesters, and riot police moved in, pushing some protesters back and using pepper spray at times. Hong Kong's Airport Authority said operations at the airport had been "seriously disrupted".

China on Monday also slammed violent protesters in Hong Kong who had thrown petrol bombs at police officers and linked them to "terrorism", as Beijing ramps up its rhetoric against pro-democracy demonstrations in the financial hub.

"Hong Kong's radical demonstrators have repeatedly used extremely dangerous tools to attack police officers, which already constitutes a serious violent crime, and also shows the first signs of terrorism emerging," said Yang Guang, spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State council. Chinese People's Armed Police Force is also reportedly assembling near Shenzhen, a city bordering Hong Kong, for "large-scale military exercises."