As night fell in Hong Kong yesterday, police tightened a siege at Hong Kong Polytechnic University as hundreds of anti-government protesters trapped inside sought to escape.
Protesters advanced on the police from outside the cordon, while others emerged from the campus, their umbrellas at the fore.
Police in some places swooped in to subdue protesters and make arrests. It was not clear if any of those inside the Polytechnic escaped.
Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) late yesterday afternoon urged protesters holed up in the Polytechnic to heed police calls to surrender.
She decried the chaos around campus in a Facebook post, blaming “rioters” for continuing “to escalate the level of violence.”
“Police have repeatedly made appeals and people in PolyU campus should listen,” she said
Photo: Bloomberg
Hong Kong’s work week started with multiple protests that disrupted traffic, and schools remained closed because of safety concerns.
There was a temporary lull yesterday morning in the pitched battles for control of the Polytechnic campus as the emphasis shifted from battering the protesters with tear gas and water cannons to waiting for them to come out.
However, for most the day police and protesters clashed around the school, leading to multiple arrests and injuries as dozens tried to flee the area.
Photo: Bloomberg
Running battles occurred, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who threw bricks and Molotov cocktails while hiding behind umbrellas.
“These rioters, they are also criminals. They have to face the consequences of their acts,” said Cheuk Hau-yip (卓孝業), the police commander of Kowloon West district, where Polytechnic is located.
“Other than coming out to surrender, I don’t see, at the moment, there’s any viable option for them,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Cheuk said police have the ability and resolve to end the standoff peacefully so protesters should not “try their luck.”
Police, who have warned that everyone in the area could be charged with rioting.
Polytechnic president Teng Jin-guarng (滕錦光) early yesterday said in a video message that he would accompany protesters detained leaving the campus to the police station to ensure their cases would be processed fairly.
However, protesters yesterday won on a legal front when the Hong Kong High Court struck down a mask ban imposed by the government last month.
The court said it did not consider anti-mask laws unconstitutional in general, but in this case, the law infringed on fundamental rights further than was reasonably necessary.
The Hong Kong Education Bureau announced that classes from kindergarten to high school would be suspended for the sixth straight day today. Most classes are expected to resume tomorrow, except for kindergarten and classes for the disabled, which are suspended until Sunday, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, the escalating violence has “reduced the chance of holding” District Council elections as scheduled on Sunday, a senior official said yesterday.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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