Hong Kong protests: Dozens hold out inside a besieged university campus
A few dozen anti-government demonstrators remain barricaded inside Hong Kong’s besieged Polytechnic University campus for a fourth straight day as the standoff between protesters and police continued on Wednesday.
Protesters at the campus said around 50 people remained after hundreds had fled deteriorating conditions and following official warnings that police may fire live rounds to clear the area.
Read more: Hong Kong universities: a new battleground between protesters and police
Exhausted bands of youths continued to wander the campus, preparing Molotov cocktails while others slept on a gym floor.
“I won’t ever give up. Yes, I will fight until the end,” a 15-year-old holdout armed with bow and arrow, who identified himself as William, told the AFP news agency. “But… it’s very dangerous because when you use the bow, the police must shoot you, with some unknown bullets. Maybe real bullets.”
Over the past couple of days, more than 1,000 people have been arrested, authorities said
Fierce clashes
In recent days, the campus has turned into the epicenter of the nearly six-month-long protest movement against Beijing. Hardcore protesters there have used Molotov cocktails, bricks and arrows to repel riot police.
Authorities, meanwhile, have set up a cordon around the campus to prevent anyone from escaping. Over the past couple of days, more than 1,000 people have been arrested and hundreds of injured treated at hospitals, authorities said.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday called for a humane end to the siege and urged protesters still in the university to surrender, adding that while those over 18 would face rioting charges, minors would not be arrested.
The protests, which have wreaked havoc across Hong Kong for months, have been escalating over the past few weeks, with university campuses witnessing fierce clashes between protesters and police. Multiple campuses across the city have been vandalized and barricaded by black-clad protesters who claim they are defending the campuses from the police.
On Wednesday morning, there were scattered incidents of protesters stopping trains by opening emergency doors and disrupting traffic, but on a much smaller scale than last week. Some train stations remained shut because of damage from earlier protests.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
The store room
Protesters stand in a supply room at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the last campus to hold out in a week of violent protests in Hong Kong. As the number of protesters dwindled to around 100 on Tuesday, demonstrators said food and other supplies were running low.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
Security forces
A riot police officer fires tear gas at anti-government protesters. In a dramatic moment, officers fired tear gas at protesters as they escaped down a rope descending from a footbridge.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
Protester violence
A protester holds a burning molotov cocktail during protests. Protesters assaulted police trying to enter the campus with the homemade explosives as well as arrows and bricks.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
Masked crusader
A demonstrator sports a face-concealing mask. On Monday, the Hong Kong High Court ruled that the mask ban enacted over a month ago was unconstitutional. On Tuesday, a Chinese state media outlet condemned the decision to veto the ban and said that only China has the authority to rule on constitutional matters in Hong Kong.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
The not-so-great escape
A protester tries to escape through a sewage tunnel. Around a dozen protesters tried to escape the university protests through the sewage system, but we’re forced to turn back.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
A word from abroad
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US was “gravely concerned” about recent developments in Hong Kong. He stressed that the US believes the government in Hong Kong is responsible for restoring peace.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
Stranded on campus
Young people go through a security control point set up at Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Tuesday morning. A group of parents and pastors called for police to let the students leave. They claimed that many were peaceful protesters who were stuck in campus for fear of being arrested for rioting.
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Hong Kong: University campus turns into battleground
Hundreds injured
Emergency service workers remove a man from the campus. More than 200 people have been injured in two days of violent clashes
Foreign pressure grows
The unrest in Hong Kong marks the most serious popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
It began with proposed legislation that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to places including mainland China for trial. But the protests later morphed into a wider movement calling for democratic reforms in the Chinese special administrative region.
The demonstrators are angry about what they see as the stifling of Hong Kong’s freedoms and extensive autonomy by China’s central government in Beijing.
The months-long protests have grabbed global attention, with countries like the US and the UK expressing concern over the developments in Hong Kong.
US Senate backs human rights in Hong Kong
In Washington, the US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,” which would require the secretary of state to certify at least once a year that Hong Kong retains enough autonomy to qualify for special US trading consideration and would impose sanctions against officials responsible for human rights violations.
Beijing condemned the US Senate’s move, with the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang, criticizing it as “blatant” interference in China’s internal affairs.
Geng said the legislation “paints criminal moves as the pursuit of human rights and democracy” and accused Washington of having a “hidden political agenda” to destabilize China and Hong Kong. China will take “strong countermeasures” if the proposal becomes law, Geng said.
sri/sms (AFP, Reuters, dpa, AP)
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