The US could end its special relationship with Hong Kong. But for western companies, it's complicated
Hong Kong (CNN Business) The United States may soon terminate its special economic and trading relationship with Hong Kong. Experts say losing the status won't cause an immediate exodus of big western companies from the global financial hub, but it could further erode what made Hong Kong so attractive in the first place.
The latest blow to the city's reputation came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the country no longer views Hong Kong as sufficiently independent from China, which for more than 20 years has governed the city as a semi-autonomous region with freedoms not available on the mainland.
Pompeo's announcement is not a surprise. He warned last week that a new national security law China has planned for Hong Kong — which is expected to ban sedition, secession and subversion against Beijing — would be a "death knell" for the autonomy the former British colony was promised.
The declaration doesn't change anything right now, though it does suggest that Washington could revoke the special status it granted the city in 1992. Late last year, US lawmakers passed legislation that linked the arrangement to an annual review of Hong Kong's unique political and legal freedoms.
The status has its economic perks: During the US-China trade war, for example, it allowed Hong Kong to avoid the tariffs that Washington imposed on Chinese goods.
But the trading relationship between Hong Kong and the United States is far less valuable than the other business opportunities the city affords foreign firms, such as the ability to operate without restrictions encountered elsewhere in China. Beijing regulates everything about how a foreign company does business in the mainland, from how much capital they can invest there to how large of an ownership stake they can hold in their own business ventures. That makes Hong Kong a more suitable staging ground for firms that have an interest in the region.
"Hong Kong has become one of the latest battlegrounds for the US-China power game," said Ronald Wan, chief executive of Partners Capital International, a financial services firm based in Hong Kong. "Trade is just a small part of the story."
Trade is only part of it
The United States imported nearly $17 billion in goods and services from Hong Kong in 2018, while exporting $50 billion — a trivial amount compared to the nearly $740 billion in goods and services traded that year between the United States and China.
Applying Chinese tariff rates to Hong Kong exports would "have a limited direct impact on the US firms operating in the territory" because of how little is exported, wrote analysts from Eurasia Group in a Wednesday research note.
They added that it's unlikely the United States would ditch its relationship with Hong Kong in full, though.
"US companies are invested in Hong Kong as an access point for the region," the analysts wrote. "Losing its special status would also hurt Hong Kong more than Beijing, further straining an already struggling economy while doing little long-term damage to Beijing's plans."
A more troubling risk is that the loss of that special status could lead Washington to restrict Hong Kong's access to sensitive American technology, according to Capital Economics.
Such products comprise only 5% of Hong Kong's total imports, researchers at the firm wrote last November. But they said that "restricting the ability of Hong Kong-based firms to source sensitive products would remove one of Hong Kong's distinct advantages as a business location relative to mainland China."
That concern also points to a broader fear: If the United States starts treating Hong Kong as it treats China on trade, it eventually could reconsider the way it looks at the city entirely.
"The short-term economic damage would be manageable," the Capital Economics researchers said. "But it would accelerate the erosion of Hong Kong's status as an international business center."
Turbulence ahead
There are some signs that investors are nervous about the city, which has already endured months of clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters. The city's benchmark Hang Seng Index (HSI) suffered its worst day since 2015 last Friday after news of the national security law broke.
"We see turbulence ahead as US-China relations are set to deteriorate further," wrote strategists from New York-based financial services firm Brown Brothers Harriman in a recent research note.
The strategists warned that the Hong Kong dollar could face pressure, even though it is pegged to the US dollar and can only trade within a narrow band. If the Hong Kong currency weakens, interest rates could spike. Investors might also be prompted to move their money elsewhere.
"While we expect the peg to hold, a run on the [Hong Kong dollar] would [be] very destabilizing to the economy," they added.
Any significant amount of instability could also prompt foreign companies to reconsider Hong Kong as a hub for their business in Asia. More than 1,300 US companies alone operate in the city, according to Citi.
"Recent surveys by the American Chamber of Commerce show that US firms already plan to scale back their investments in the city," wrote the researchers from Capital Economics. "Much of Hong Kong's success is based on its ability to attract [foreign direct investment] and enjoy the productivity dividends that come from hosting internationally-competitive firms."
A complicated relationship
Despite recent fears, business leaders and analysts have stressed that Hong Kong's relationship with the West is long and complicated. Completely unraveling it would be difficult.
The Eurasia Group analysts noted that re-defining Washington's treatment of the city would "touch on complicated issues of regulatory cooperation, tax treatment, and legal cooperation."
"These will not unfold quickly," they said. The analysts added that President Donald Trump is unlikely to immediately sanction Hong Kong in a way that hurts its financial stability, such as making it harder for Hong Kong authorities to clear US dollar transactions.
"Businesses may relocate. Capital could flee," said Wan, the Partners Capital executive. "But it could take years."
And though US firms have been "evaluating the situation" in Hong Kong, that doesn't necessarily mean that they will rush for the exits, according to Tara Joseph, president of American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
Beijing also likely considered the impact that introducing its national security law would have on business in Hong Kong, according to the Eurasia Group analysts.
"Chinese officials likely determined that the majority of firms would not leave the city and that any risks to key elements of Hong Kong's financial system, such as the Hong Kong dollar peg to the US dollar, were controllable," they wrote. "For Beijing, the imperative of tightening political authority over Hong Kong trumps the risks of the territory's longer-term economic atrophy."
Boeing is building the 737 Max again even though it is not yet approved to fly
New York (CNN Business) Boeing restarted production of the troubled 737 Max Wednesday, even though the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to give its approval for the jet to fly again, and as demand for new jets has ground to a near halt along with demand for air travel.
The announcement came on the same day that Boeing notified 6,770 workers they were losing their jobs. Another 5,520 workers have taken voluntary buyout offers.
Airlines' move to cancel or delay the delivery of new jets in the face of the industry's crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has forced Boeing to greatly reduce its production plans for at least the next several years.
Boeing had continued to build the Max, its best selling jet, even after it was grounded in March 2019 following two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. It produced more than 400 of the jets that it was unable to deliver before halting production in January in the face of continued delays in getting approval for it to fly again.
Boeing said it now expects that approval in the middle of this year.
The company temporarily stopped building the plane in January, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit most of the world's airlines. It couldn't afford to keep building the Max without being able to deliver the planes and complete the sales. But if it kept the line shut it risked the loss of suppliers who might go out of business without being able to sell their parts to Boeing.
"Without the supply chain there will be nothing for us to assemble so it's as simple at that," said Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun at the annual meeting in April when discussing the need to support the company's suppliers.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that caused air travel to plummet, airlines and aircraft leasing companies have canceled orders for 299 of the 737 Max. Another 240 of the jets have have had their order status changed and Boeing no longer counts them as firm orders.
The company still has firm orders for more than 3,800 of the 737 Max on its books. And some of the airlines that have pushed back the delivery of the jet due to the number of planes they have parked say they hope to take delivery of the 737 Max some day soon.
"We're still wanting to get the Max back into service," Southwest CEO Gary Kelly told shareholders at the company's annual meeting earlier this month. "The Max airplane is superior to the [older versions of the] 737 that we're currently operating. It burns less fuel. It's an excellent airplane. And certainly in this environment, we would love to retire some of our older aircraft, avoid some expensive maintenance and a substitute with the newer airplanes."
Southwest owns 34 of the grounded jets, more than any other airline, and Boeing has built an additional 25 it is waiting to deliver. Even so, Southwest (LUV) reached an agreement with Boeing to reduce the number of Max jets that it will add to its fleet through the end of 2021.
Southwest originally planned to take delivery of 107 737 Boeing Max jets between 2019 through 2021, and another 19 from aircraft leasing companies. But it so far has received only three of those planes due to the grounding. Under an agreement with Boeing, it will now take delivery of no more than 48 of those jets through the end of 2021, and defer orders for at least 59 others.
"We don't need the Max right now. We don't need all the airplanes that we have," Kelly told investors in April when reporting the airline's first quarterly operating loss in 11 years.
The airline said last month it doesn't expect to use those grounded planes until November at the earliest, and it could push the use of the planes back further.
GE is saying goodbye to its 129-year-old light bulb business
New York (CNN Business) General Electric is saying goodbye to the light bulb. The conglomerate is shedding a struggling business founded by Thomas Edison more than a century ago.
After years of failing to find a buyer, GE announced Wednesday it will sell its 129-year-old lighting division to smart home company Savant Systems.
The deal marks the latest step in dismantling the GE empire, which is saddled with too much debt and poor-performing businesses.
GE has previously unloaded units that make microwaves, locomotives and washing machines as well as NBC Universal and much of its troubled financial arm.
"Today's transaction is another important step in the transformation of GE into a more focused industrial company," GE CEO Larry Culp said in a statement.
GE-branded light bulbs are not going away, however. Much like GE's sale of its appliance division to China's Haier in 2016, the lighting transaction includes a long-term licensing agreement that allows Savant to use the storied GE brand. That means shoppers will still see the GE-branded light bulbs in stores.
GE (GE), whose shares surged 7% on the news, declined to provide financial details about the sale.
From Thomas Edison to smart homes
Savant, a Massachusetts-based company, makes lighting, security, climate and entertainment products, including smart speakers. And it's betting the GE deal will make it the No. 1 company in smart home technology.
"It's a perfect match -- this will be a powerhouse," Robert Madonna, Savant's founder and CEO, told CNN Business. "There is a vacuum right now. The space is dying for a leader."
Madonna, a tech entrepreneur and former telecom executive, said GE first approached Savant about a deal a year ago. The Connecticut native was attracted to GE's history of innovation and brand recognition.
"I grew up in GE land. It's an iconic brand, and it's an honor to take that legacy and continue it in the smart home space," Madonna said.
Savant, founded in 2005, was the first to roll out Apple-based smart home systems. The company originally catered to luxury homes but has since expanded, through a series of acquisitions, into mass market appeal.
"When Thomas Edison installed the first light bulb, that must have been magical. That's how smart technology today should be in the home," Madonna said.
Madonna said Savant has "no plan" to cut any of GE Lighting's 700 jobs because the two companies' workforces are very complementary.
The companies said GE Lighting will remain based in Cleveland after the deal closes, likely in mid-2020.
Lighting has been struggling for years
GE's roots are inextricably tied to the light bulb. The company was co-founded by Edison, the inventor of the modern light bulb. In 1892, Edison merged his company, Edison General Electric Company, with Thomson-Houston Electric Company.
By 1935, GE's light bulbs were bright enough to light Major League Baseball's first-ever night game, which was played in Cincinnati. GE also invented the fluorescent bulb in 1938 and the halogen lamp in 1959.
But the lighting industry has been struggling for years because of low prices and another product it pioneered: LED.
LED lighting, invented by GE in 1962, last for decades. Of course, that means they don't need to be replaced as often. Prices and revenue for lighting have tumbled in recent years, prompting GE to seek a buyer for the business.
GE has sold off a series of businesses in recent years to raise billions of dollars and repay a mountain of debt. The company is now focused on four major industrial divisions: aviation, healthcare, power and renewable energy.
Meanwhile GE Healthcare, which makes MRI machines and other medical equipment, is performing well during the pandemic. But its jet engine business has been crushed by the health crisis and is rapidly cutting jobs. And GE Power, which makes power plants, is in decline because of the shift away from fossil fuels.
Northern India wilts under crippling heat wave
NEW DELHI -- As India braces for a hotter than usual summer, many cities in the country's north are reeling under an intense heat wave with the temperatures on Wednesday crossing a scorching 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
The temperatures in northern India are the highest that the country has seen in decades for this time of the year, and the hot spell is projected to last until Friday.
On Tuesday, Rajasthan’s Churu district recorded a maximum temperature of 50 C (122 F). Ravindra Sihag, a scientist at the Indian Meteorological Department, said it was the highest temperature recorded in the world for the day.
Temperatures in the capital of New Delhi have also soared beyond 47 C (116 F) this week and some states issued advisories urging people to remain indoors and hydrated.
Cyclone Amphan, which left a trail of destruction in the eastern coastal states of West Bengal and Odisha last week, was partly a reason for the heat wave.
Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, India’s meteorological chief, said that the cyclone effectively sucked the moisture in the air and triggered hot dry winds that are now blowing over large swathes of northern and central Indian plains.
India's weather agency is expecting the seasonal average maximum temperatures to remain half a degree to 1 degree C (32.9 to 33.8 F) higher than usual over northwest India and the country's western peninsular region during April and June this year.
The main summer months — April, May and June — are always excruciatingly hot in most parts of India before monsoon rains bring cooler temperatures. The monsoon normally hits southern India in the first week of June and the rest of the nation within a month.
In recent years, heat waves have caused a number of deaths, including daily wage workers, rickshaw drivers, street vendors and homeless, many of whom are the most exposed to the sun.
The year 2015 saw the worst heat wave in India since 1992, killing at least 2,081 people.
During spells of heat waves, the country of 1.3 billion people usually suffers from severe water shortages with tens of millions lacking running water
.
Last year, India's Chennai made headlines when the southern city ran out of water.
Bertha forms, hits South Carolina coast, dissipates in a day
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Tropical Storm Bertha surprised the South Carolina coast Wednesday, forming, making landfall within two hours and was downgraded before sundown, bringing a poor beach day of rain and gusty winds, but no major problems.
Forecasters expected the bad weather, but didn't predict it to organize so quickly and become the second named storm before the official start of this year's Atlantic hurricane season.
Bertha was named around 8 a.m. Wednesday and was onshore east of Charleston by 9:30 a.m. The state Department of Natural Resources called it “a sunrise surprise.” Six hours after the tropical storm formed, the National Hurricane Center downgraded it to a depression well inland. They said Bertha was no longer a tropical depression at 5 p.m. and stopped issuing advisories.
Like almost all storms with heavy rain, several streets flooded in Charleston, leaving ankle- to calf-high brown water mixed with trash from knocked over cans Wednesday. Sea rise and an antiquated drainage system mean the city floods an average of more than once a week. Heavy rains from an unnamed storm last week caused more problems.
Less than 1,000 power outages and scattered downed trees were reported as Bertha and its 50 mph (80 kph) maximum sustained winds moved onshore and into eastern South Carolina.
Bertha moved rapidly inland, spreading up to 4 inches (10 centimetres) of rain into parts of North Carolina and Virginia. Flash flood watches were issued as the region has already seen plenty of rain in May.
At the final advisory at 5 p.m., the storm was centered about 95 miles (150 kilometers) west-northwest of Myrtle Beach and was moving north-northwest at 15 mph (24 kph).
Evan Woodbury took videos of the storm before starting what he expected to be a slow day at the oceanfront restaurant he works at in Garden City south of Myrtle Beach.
A strong wind was blowing rain sideways. Closed umbrellas whipped in the roar of the wind on an empty beach.
“I've seen a lot worse than this. It's just the surprise element of the storm." Woodbury said. "It will definitely keep the tourists in."
Bertha was the latest — and on the calendar the earliest — of a series of storms to affect South Carolina in the past four years. Hurricanes Matthew (2016), Irma (2017), Florence (2018) and Dorian (2019) have all brushed past the coast, causing major flooding in the much more active late summer and early fall.
Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Arthur brought rain to North Carolina before moving out to sea. It was the sixth straight year that a named storm has developed before June 1, the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The last time there were two named storms before June was in 2016, according to Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist with Colorado State University’s atmospheric science department. It also happened in 1887, 1908, 1951 and 2012, he said.
“Most of these early season named storms form, at least in part, from non-tropical or subtropical processes and don’t necessarily imply anything about the remainder of the season," Klotzbach said in an email to The Associated Press.
Tropical Storm Bertha Forms, Hits South Carolina Coast
MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall on South Carolina’s coast Wednesday morning shortly after it formed, becoming the second named storm before the official start of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.
A tropical storm warning was issued for South Carolina’s coast and the storm was expected to bring heavy rainfall, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Bertha’s maximum sustained winds were near 50 miles per hour as it came ashore but it was expected to weaken to a tropical depression after moving inland.
The storm was centred about 20 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina, and was moving northwest near nine miles per hour.
Along America Street in Charleston, residents awoke Wednesday to an intersection that had become a water-filled canal. Cars parked on the curb had water up to their doors, The Post and Courier reported.
Garbage cans had spilled over, and dirty diapers, magazines and food scraps clogged drains in the area, the newspaper reported.
Earlier this month, Tropical Storm Arthur brought rain to North Carolina before moving out to sea.
It was the sixth straight year that a named storm has developed before June 1, the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Raheem Sterling dropped by England after altercation with teammate Joe Gomez
(CNN) Raheem Sterling has been dropped for England's Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro on Thursday after an altercation with national teammate Joe Gomez.
Manchester City's star forward said "emotions got the better of me" during a "five to ten second thing" with the Liverpool defender at St. George's Park, the national team's training complex.
The pair had previously clashed during Sunday's English Premier League fixture between Liverpool and Manchester City as the race for the title heated up.
The English Football Association confirmed there had been a "disturbance in a private team area" on Monday but that Sterling would remain with the squad.
However, Sterling took to social media to assure both he and Gomez were "good" and that focus was solely on Thursday's game at Wembley.
"Both Joe and I have had words and figured things out and moved on," Sterling posted on Instagram.
"We are in a sport where emotions run high and I am man enough to admit when emotions got the better of me."
A win against Montenegro would confirm England's place at Euro 2020 but manager Gareth Southgate said the decision to drop Sterling was made with the "agreement of the entire squad."
"One of the great challenges and strengths for us is that we've been able to separate club rivalries from the national team," said Southgate.
"Unfortunately the emotions of yesterday's game were still raw."
Southgate criticized
Former England international Rio Ferdinand believes the row should have been kept behind closed doors and has criticized Southgate for his handling of the situation.
By going public with the incident, Ferdinand worries that Sterling will once again be left to defend himself against unfair criticism that has plagued his career.
"Let's be honest now, this kind of stuff isn't uncommon in squads full of testosterone," former Manchester United defender Ferdinand wrote on Facebook, suggesting Sterling grabbed his teammate's throat.
"In the various squads I have been a part of I have seen players get punched in the face, ribs broken, nose busted, head kicked like a football ... a throat grab was the equivalent of the intricate handshake embraces that are all too familiar today!
"I just feel this could and should have been handled better to support the player & not hang him out to dry."
Now a pundit, Ferdinand made 81 appearances for the national team but failed to win a trophy despite being part of an exciting side dubbed the 'golden generation.'
Many of that team, including the likes of Steven Gerrard, who played for Liverpool, and ex-Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, have spoken about how club rivalries prevented the side from reaching its full potential.
"We didn't hate each other, we went but by nature, we would sit on tables and stick together slightly," Lampard told BT Sport.
"A lot of other nations have players playing all over the world and then they come back together and probably don't have that competitiveness. Every week we were at each other in some way shape or form. "
Since taking the England job in 2016, Southgate has worked hard to rectify the unity within the squad and saw success with the team's semifinal run at the 2018 World Cup.
Tony Stark reunites with adult daughter in deleted scene from 'Avengers: Endgame.' Prepare to cry
(CNN) The launch of Disney+ has come with some special treats for those still not over "Avengers: Endgame." (Warning: spoilers ahead.)
A few previously unseen deleted scenes are included in the digital version of the film featured on the new streaming service, one of which is a tear-jerker that shows Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in conversation with his daughter Morgan as an adult (played by Katherine Langford).
Langford's casting had been known to Marvel loyals, but those anticipating her appearance were left confused when she was not featured in the final theatrical version of the film. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo later explained the scene had been cut.
Well, now it's seeing the light of day, thanks to Disney+.
The deleted scene, titled "Tony at the Way Station," takes place in a realm not unlike the one in which Thanos found himself during the end of "Avengers: Infinity War," explained the directors in bonus commentary. There, people must "confront or reconcile something that's unresolved in yourself, in your soul," Anthony Russo said.
In the scene, Tony, destined to die from mortal wounds suffered after he put on the Infinity Gauntlet, confesses to his daughter: "I might have made a bad decision."
"I'm scared I made a mistake," he tells his daughter, who viewers only saw as a child in the film as it was seen in theaters.
But she puts him at ease.
"I know. And I know it's going to be tough for you to let go, but if someone had to do that so the rest of us could [live]... I'm proud of you," she says. "I'm strong, like mom. And I'm happy. I'm happy that we had the time that we did and that you were there for me -- until you couldn't be."
With that, Tony is visibly emotional but at peace.
"If you're happy, I'm happy," he says.
"I love you," she adds.
"I love you 3,000," he replies.
So, why would the filmmakers cut such an emotionally powerful scene? Joe Russo said the fear was that the scene "ground the movie to a halt" and hurt the momentum.
"And he does something similar in the next sequence when he gives his own eulogy," he said. The hope was not to "dilute the value" of any powerful moment.
Moreover, Anthony Russo said, because viewers were only visually familiar with the young version of Morgan, "as we would watch it in post [production] we started to feel we didn't have a lot of emotional connection... to the character because we'd never seen her before."
Thus, the scene was cut.
The Disney+ version of the film also features a deleted scene that shows an alternate version of Peter Parker's reunion with Tony Stark during the film's big battle and a nearly 20-minute tribute to the iconic character.
Hey, when you're the highest-grossing film ever, the reflection stops when you say it does.
Hong Kong university under 'siege' from police as violence spreads
Hong Kong (CNN) Hong Kong woke to a third consecutive day of travel chaos and debris littering the streets Wednesday, following fiery clashes across the city overnight and a prolonged and violent standoff at a university campus.
On Tuesday, hundreds of black-clad protesters, many of them students, attempted to block riot police from entering the prestigious and largely isolated Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) near Tai Po. Under a barrage of tear gas, protesters hurled bricks and petrol bombs at police, while assembling flaming barricades.
Smoke could be seen across parts of the New Territories, as protesters built massive bonfires from barricades and an abandoned car. The confrontation continued well into the early hours, as police kept threatening a clearance. As of Wednesday mid-morning, several thousand students were on campus, armed with more petrol bombs, bows, and other impromptu weapons, as more supplies were brought to campus by car and on foot.
The eruption of violence at CUHK follows some of the worst unrest seen in the semi-autonomous Chinese city since anti-government protests began nearly five months ago, with police describing the situation as on the "brink of a total breakdown."
Also on Wednesday morning, police attempted to clear barricades in Kowloon Tong, and local residents and government workers cleared up debris and barricades in Mong Kok, where clashes between police and protesters -- which saw numerous rounds of tear gas fired in the heavily built up area -- lasted until around 3 a.m.
Unrest is expected to continue throughout the day, with CUHK as the main focus. Attention in the city has been focused on the campus, and dramatic pictures coming out of it overnight largely replaced those from earlier this week on front pages and social media, including the shooting of a protester by a police officer and the setting on fire of a man following a dispute with protesters Monday.
Campus under siege
In one of the densest cities in the world, CUHK is a world apart. Its sprawling campus sits in the hills above Sha Tin in the New Territories, accessed only by a handful of roads and one train station, which, combined with the fact that many students live on site, give it a self-contained, small town-like feel.
Police had attempted to access the campus following demonstrations there as part of a call for citywide strikes. Many students regarded Tuesday's police operation as an unwarranted encroachment and a threat to academic freedom, and reacted fiercely, circulating a message accusing police of laying "siege" to the university.
As it is private property, police can only enter the campus with a warrant, or if they are pursuing a suspect. The stand-off, which left numerous injured, went into the night and early hours of the morning, as university officials tried to negotiate with police to get them to leave. In one dramatic incident, CUHK Vice Chancellor Rocky Tuan was teargassed as he attempted to approach police lines to talk.
Around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said they had "reached a consensus in search for a peaceful solution," but blamed students for spoiling it by throwing "bricks, petrol bombs, launched arrows and even fired a signal flare at Police officers.'"
"Such violence has reached a deadly level, posing a serious threat to Police officers and everyone at scene. The rioters threw hard objects and petrol bombs onto Tolo Highway, endangering road users' safety," police said. "Police warn all rioters to stop all illegal and violent acts, and to leave immediately."
Repeated rounds of tear gas were used by police, and there were reports of rubber bullets and other non-lethal rounds. In a statement, Amnesty International said the "scenes of police targeting CUHK with tear gas and rubber bullets are a disturbing escalation in tensions that increases the risk of further casualties."
With protesters determined to continue defending the campus Wednesday, there was a strong likelihood of further clashes. In a statement, CUHK said "the risk of conflict is extremely high, and many nearby roads are blocked, and many places and facilities on the campus have been severely damaged."
Growing violence
This week has seen a major escalation in political unrest that has rocked the Asian financial hub for almost six months, after the government introduced a now-shelved extradition bill with China.
Since then, demonstrations have expanded to include five major demands, including an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality and wider democratic reforms.
In response to the demands, the city government appointed a panel of overseas experts to assist Hong Kong's longstanding Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), which is conducting a fact-finding study into alleged police misconduct during the protests.
But on Saturday, one of the experts tweeted a copy of the panel's progress report, criticizing the IPCC's investigative capabilities, and saying it needed to "substantially enhance its capacity" to assess evidence from witnesses and assemble a coherent account of the facts.
The nonstop protests have also sent retail and tourism numbers plunging, with the city falling into recession in October.
That violence reached new heights Monday, with three shocking incidents that seemed to demonstrate just how out of control the situation was getting on all sides. Early that morning, a traffic officer pulled his revolver on protesters and ended up shooting one in a scuffle. Soon afterward, another police officer was filmed driving his motorbike repeatedly at protesters in an apparent attempt to run them over -- he has since been suspended.
In the same day, another shocking video showed a man being doused with flammable liquid and set on fire after a dispute with protesters. He remains in hospital in a critical condition.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Monday that the city was being brought "to the brink of no return" by the violence, adding that "if there is any wishful thinking that by escalating violence the (Hong Kong) government will yield to pressure to satisfy protesters' so-called demands, I'm making this clear that will not happen."
ARREST MADE IN HOTEL AGGRAVATED BURGLARY
On Sunday, November 10th, 2019 Officers of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force arrested a 39-year-old man on Suspicion of Aggravated Burglary following a report on November 9th, 2019 at a Hotel along Princess Drive, Grace Bay, Providenciales.
Reports are that on November 9th, 2019, shortly after 5:00 a.m., a 62-year-old man was stabbed by a Burglar who entered his hotel room.
The 39-year-old is still in Police Custody.