Hong Kong protests: Mfat looking at evacuation of Kiwis in troubled city

Protesters sit-in at Hong Kong airport, cancelling all flights for the second day this week. Photo / AP

As the situation in Hong Kong worsens, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has drawn up contingency plans to evacuate Kiwis there if necessary.

Kiwis planning to travel to the Chinese territory are being told to check with their airlines as protesters have invaded the terminals there.

The contingency plans have been drawn up as China increases its military presence across the border.

Fears of a crackdown on the protesters has seen Mfat here planning for evacuations if it become necessary.

Thousands of Hong Kong residents hold New Zealand passports, and have been since the city was reclaimed by the mainland from Britain in 1997.

Hong Kong's airport forced to cancel all flights for second day

Hong Kong Airport was forced to cancel all flights for the second day in a row after protesters stormed the international airport's terminals.

The city's chief executive Carrie Lam warned Hong Kong was "on the brink of no return".

The situation has been labelled a "disaster".

Increasingly violent protests have plunged the Asian financial hub into its most serious political crisis in decades, posing a challenge to the central government in Beijing.

The latest protest led to ugly scenes, when small groups of hardcore demonstrators turned on two men they accused of being spies or undercover police — and as desperate travellers pleaded in vain to be allowed onto flights.

Travelers wait at the airport departure hall in Hong Kong. Photo / AP

Hong Kong's 10-week political crisis, in which millions of people have taken to the streets calling for a halt to sliding freedoms, was already the biggest challenge to Chinese rule of the semi-autonomous city since its 1997 handover from Britain.

But two days of protests at the airport have again raised the stakes for the financial hub.

Beijing is sending increasingly ominous signals that the unrest must end, with state-run media showing videos of security forces gathering across the border.

- with News.com.au