Police briefly stormed Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University Monday morning after a violent, days-long siege on the protester-occupied campus saw some of the most violent battles since the unrest began six months ago.
Protesters have spent days barricaded inside the fortress-like campus. Police surrounded the university on Sunday and issued an ultimatum, warning anyone choosing to remain in the area could be charged with rioting and threatening to use live ammunition if met with further resistance. But protesters continued to counter the volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets with gasoline bombs, slingshots and bows and arrows.
Clashes went on throughout the night as scores—potentially hundreds—of protesters repelled police advances, including an attempt to get through with an armored vehicle. Smoke billowed above the grounds as barricades were set ablaze. One police officer was stuck in the leg with an arrow, while students said some protesters suffered hypothermia after they were doused by water canons in the night.
As dawn broke, riot police momentarily breached the main entrance, reportedly making some arrests. But fiery explosions seen on livefeeds appeared to push the officers back again not long after.
By Monday morning, a stream of black-clad protesters made a dash for the exits, but were driven back by tear gas and rubber bullets.
Polytechnic University adjoins the Cross Harbour Tunnel—a vital artery that connects the Kowloon peninsula with the banking and commercial districts of Hong Kong Island, lying on the opposite shore of Victoria Harbour. Protesters have forced the tunnel’s closure for days by erecting burning barricades across the tunnel approach roads, razing toll booths and hurling objects from a footbridge that leads from the campus across the toll plaza.
The fiery confrontations at the university and the looming threat of live rounds mark a sharp escalation in the protests, which started out with peaceful marches in June. The movement has increasingly turned more violent as police attempts to quell the unrest drive more protesters into adopting radical tactics.
Galvanized by the death of a student who fell during demonstrations earlier this month, protesters have shifted from the standard fare of weekend rallies to instead holding daily strikes that have snarled traffic and prompted schools to cancel classes for over a week.
University students, who form the front line core of the movement, occupied five university campuses last week, fortifying the entrances and seizing the surrounding transport routes. But while the other campuses emptied over the weekend, a standoff culminated at Polytechnic.
As of Monday afternoon, hundreds of masked supporters converged outside the university, saying they want to help “save” the students stuck inside. Police have detained dozens of people in the surrounding vicinity, while street battles have erupted nearby.
In a post circulating on the Telegram social media channels used by protesters, some claiming to be inside the Polytechnic campus have vowed not to surrender.
“Us students will remain until the very last moment,” the post says, before adding, “We would rather die if we don’t have freedom.”
—With reporting by Amy Gunia, Hillary Leung, Abhishyant Kidangoor and Aria Chen / Hong Kong
