No Taiwanese students were hurt in Saturday’s clashes between protesters and police at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Ma Hsiang-ping (馬湘萍), an education counselor at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong, said yesterday, adding that nearly 600 Taiwanese students had returned home as of Saturday.
The Ministry of Education, the Mainland Affairs Council and the office have been monitoring the protests since June, and in August established an ad hoc task force as well as a group to stay in touch with Taiwanese student associations in the territory, she said.
Although violent clashes occurred near the Polytechnic early on Saturday, the Taiwanese students’ dormitory is off campus, so they were not affected, Ma said.
Photo: CNA
Office officials helped three Polytechnic students return home yesterday, she said, adding that 76 of the 167 Taiwanese students at the school had returned home.
The rest are expected to make a decision within days, Ma added.
Of the 1,021 Taiwanese students in Hong Kong, 594 had returned home as of 10:30am on Saturday, ministry data showed.
They are 261 of the 303 students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; 123 of the 180 students at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; 82 of the 149 students at City University of Hong Kong; and 22 of the 166 students at the University of Hong Kong.
All universities in Hong Kong, except the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, have cut their semesters short and announced that they would hold classes and exams online, Ma said.
The academy is in Wan Chai District, which is not affected by the clashes, and the three Taiwanese students there have decided stay for the time being, she said.
Some of the student associations have questioned how the students are to continue their education after returning home and how the ministry would help them, Ma said.
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