By Oiwan Lam
Thousands of protesters took public transportation to the Hong Kong International Airport on September 1 in an attempt to paralyze the airport. However, their disruptive action left them stranded on the airport island located 35 kilometers away from downtown.
As the police started making arrests, protesters decided to make their way back on foot along the highway and hundreds of private vehicles came to their rescue. Some netizens called the incident the “Dunkirk evacuation” of Hong Kong. It refers to the evacuation of 330,000 French, British, Belgian, and Dutch soldiers who were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, France during World War II.
