China slams 'terrorist-like actions' by protesters at HK airport

China on Wednesday slammed pro-democracy protesters at Hong Kong airport for "terrorist-like" acts, after two men were beaten by demonstrators.

Activists blockaded two terminals in the city on Tuesday in the latest escalation of a 10-week political crisis that has gripped the international finance hub and forced the closure of the airport.

A small group of protesters also surrounded, tied up and beat a man wearing a yellow journalist vest -- whom the editor of China's state-controlled Global Times identified as one of the paper's reporters -- and another man Beijing said was a Shenzhen resident visiting Hong Kong.

"We express the strongest condemnation of these terrorist-like actions," said Xu Luying, spokeswoman at the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of the State Council, who called the two men "mainland China compatriots."