In Hong Kong, daring escapes from a violent siege at a university

Some protesters slithered down makeshift ropes to waiting motorcyclists, brazenly evading a police cordon set up around a besieged university campus. Hundreds defied warnings to drop their homemade weapons and refused to surrender. And a group of sobbing parents staged a sit-in vigil outside the school, blocked by officers who refused to allow them inside.

>>Elaine Yu, Russell Goldman and Lam Yik FeiThe New York Times
Published : 19 Nov 2019, 10:14 AM
Updated : 19 Nov 2019, 10:14 AM

The scenes at Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Monday were a montage of urban warfare and mayhem in the heart of the territory, roiled for nearly six months by pro-democracy protesters. The demonstrators have increasingly directed their fury at police and officials in China, who have dropped many hints that their patience is wearing thin.

For days, the protesters have held off the police from entering the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic, fortifying their holdout with homemade fire bombs, giant sling shots, bricks and bows and arrows.

At least 38 people were injured in a protracted battle at the university Sunday, the city’s Hospital Authority said, after a bloody battle in which a police officer was struck by an arrow and demonstrators set a police van on fire.

The casualties tripled Monday, with at least 116 people injured. There were still 100 protesters remaining inside the encircled campus Tuesday, said Carrie Lam, the city’s chief executive.

Protesters clash with riot police officers near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Nov 17, 2019. The siege at the university escalated on Sunday as the police swooped in and threatened to use live rounds against anti-government protesters. The New York Times

As other demonstrations raged across the city, Hong Kong’s High Court offered some vindication to the protesters, striking down a contentious ban on the wearing of face masks in public. The court found that the ban, enacted in October, violated the territory’s mini-constitution, know as the Basic Law.

And in Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was “gravely concerned” by the deepening chaos.

The most dramatic scenes unfolded at Hong Kong Polytechnic. As their weapons and supplies dwindled, protesters sought to flee the campus, only to find all their routes blocked by a line of heavily armed riot police officers and a hailstorm of tear gas and rubber bullets.

On Monday afternoon, the students tried unsuccessfully to rush a police cordon only to be pushed back into the campus. Despite running out of options, the students feared they would be arrested if they obeyed police instructions to “drop their weapons” and leave through one designated exit.

Later in the evening, a number of protesters escaped on ladders made of rope or plastic hoses, dropping down from a bridge connected to the campus, as supporters on escape motorcycles awaited them on the road below. It was not immediately clear if any were arrested.

The protesters, many of them university and high school students, have occupied the campus for a week. On Sunday night and well into Monday morning they clashed with police in one of the most violent confrontations in months of conflict.

Protesters clash with riot police officers near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Nov. 17, 2019. The New York Times

By nightfall, about 100 people staged a sit-in directly in front of the police cordon near the university, including women who were said to be mothers of trapped protesters sobbing and being comforted by others.

“Most of the people here are parents,” said Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy lawmaker who joined the rally. “They realise once their children get out they will be immediately arrested. They just want to take a look at their kid and see if he or she is OK.”

Conditions on the campus have grown increasingly desperate with injured protesters unable to receive treatment, Owan Li, a student council member, told reporters. Student leaders said protesters had suffered eye injuries and hypothermia after they were struck by a stinging dye shot from a police water cannon.

Trying to mediate the stalemate, Jasper Tsang, founder of Hong Kong’s largest pro-Beijing political party, arrived at the university late Monday evening. Tsang spoke to several protesters at a podium and said he was willing to accompany their departure from the university to help insure their safety.

Later, dozens of protesters lined up at the designated exit and were arrested on rioting charges by police. It was not immediately clear whether they had departed because of Tsang’s mediation.

Areas near the university had the feel of a battle zone, with streets engulfed by tear gas and fires.

Scores were arrested by police Monday morning near the university. A large group of people were seen seated outside a hotel in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Kowloon, their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

Police said that they arranged for Red Cross volunteers to enter the campus in the afternoon and provide first aid to the injured, and that the force would assist those who needed to go to the hospital “before further investigation,” implying that arrests would wait until after their treatments.

Fernando Cheung, a pro-democracy lawmaker who was in touch with social workers, said that some of the young people trapped inside were “close to breaking down.”

Police said 154 people were arrested over the weekend, bringing the total number of arrests to 4,491 since the protests started in June.

Riot police spray a blue liquid toward protesters near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Nov 17, 2019. The New York Times

Xinhua, China’s state news agency, reported Tuesday that China’s state council has appointed a new police chief for Hong Kong. The appointment of Tang Ping-keung, also known as Chris Tang, comes after the police force has been criticised by hard-liners in the country for not being aggressive enough in dealing with the protests.

The ruling that overturned the face-mask ban, issued by the city’s High Court, was a blow to the local government’s contention that the protests required the declaration of emergency powers.

The mask ban quickly inflamed tensions in the city and set off more violent clashes. The city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, imposed the ban without seeking legislative approval by invoking powers granted under the rarely used Emergency Regulations Ordinance.

In its ruling, the court said the ban violated the city’s miniconstitution because it was too vague and endangered the ability of the Legislative Council, or LegCo, to make the territory’s laws.

Yang Guang, a spokesman for the Chinese government’s office that handles Hong Kong affairs, criticised the court’s decision.

Yang said the ruling had “brazenly challenged the authority of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and the governance powers of the chief executive conferred by the law,” according to an online statement from the office. He gave a veiled warning for the Hong Kong judiciary to fall into line, citing China’s view of the Basic Law.

“We will continue paying close attention to the developments in this case,” Yang said. “It is to be hoped that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and judicial organs will strictly carry out their duties according to the Basic Law, and shoulder a common responsibility to halt the violence and chaos and restore order.”

Masks have been worn by protesters since the early days of the movement, as a way for protesters to conceal their identities and protect themselves from the pepper spray and tear gas routinely deployed by police. Many protesters saw the law as a pretext that would allow officers to arrest nonviolent demonstrators in order to discourage people from joining the street actions.

The Trump administration has been muted about its position on the Hong Kong unrest, even though many Republicans and Democrats have expressed strong support for the protesters and their cause.

On Monday, Pompeo called for all sides in the escalating conflict to exercise restraint, and said the territory’s government should start an independent investigation into violent incidents that have punctuated the pro-democracy protests. Such an investigation presumably would include reviewing accusations of police misconduct.

Chinese leaders, on the other hand, have increasingly castigated the protesters as thugs and seditionists who have been encouraged by China’s adversaries.

Last Thursday, President Xi Jinping of China made his toughest comments so far about the protests. According to a People’s Daily report of a speech Xi gave in Brazil, he said China “staunchly supports the Hong Kong police in sternly enforcing the law, and the Hong Kong judicial authorities in punishing violent criminals.”

© 2019 New York Times News Service