Police have accused a Hong Kong university of being a “manufacturing base for petrol bombs and a refuge for rioters and criminals” following overnight clashes with anti-government protesters, as riot police also beat demonstrators and made arrests in the heart of the city’s financial district.
The city was paralysed on Wednesday, with much of its public transport suspended and all universities closed after a night of violent clashes at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Hundreds of protesters assembled throughout Wednesday on a bridge over a motorway on the edge of the campus and built makeshift barricades, fearing that police might return.
Many were armed with petrol bombs while some carried bows and arrows, which students earlier grabbed after they broke into the university sports centre.
Police had fired multiple shots and rounds of teargas at the campus on Tuesday night and used water cannon on students, who retaliated with petrol bombs and bricks.
On Wednesday, they justified their actions as a response to students who dropped objects from the bridge on to a nearby motorway in their efforts to block traffic and impose city-wide strikes. Police said protesters also shot burning arrows at officers and threw 400 petrol bombs.
“One may ask where all these petrol bombs and weapons came from?” said Ch Supt Tse Chun-chung, the head of the police’s public relations branch. “Who would have imagined a university has become a manufacturing base for petrol bombs and a refuge for rioters and criminals?”
The police said 1,567 rounds of teargas, 1,312 rubber bullets and 380 beanbag rounds were fired on Tuesday at various locations in Hong Kong. They also said 142 arrests were made, with the youngest person detained 14 years old.
Several universities in the city, including the Chinese University of Hong Kong, announced immediate termination of the current term, scheduled to end in early December.
At about lunchtime on Wednesday, hundreds of smartly dressed protesters took to the streets in Central, the city’s most prestigious business district, for the third day in a row. Bricks were strewn across the normally busy, traffic-filled thoroughfares as white-collar workers shouted slogans. Some held placards emblazoned: “Do not shoot our young people!”
As riot police marched through an area outside the Exchange Square, which houses the Hong Kong stock exchange, angry crowds cursed them and some threw objects. Police officers beat and subdued a number of people.
A young man was seen bleeding from the head as officers flipped him over and tied his hands. Many in the crowds repeatedly shouted “Release him!” On a busy walkway, riot officers charged at the crowds, tackling about a dozen people to the ground as others fled.
Riot police carrying long shields and guns also confronted students who placed water-filled barricades, bricks and umbrellas on a main street outside the Baptist University in Kowloon. The police left in late afternoon.
The Chinese-ruled territory is experiencing its sixth month of protests, which were sparked by a controversial extradition bill but have morphed into a wider pro-democracy movement.
The latest unrest, which began with citywide strikes on Monday, is expected to continue for days. Hong Kong’s education bureau has suspended classes for all schools and universities, with primary and secondary schools sent children home late in the morning on police advice, as protesters blocked major intersections in various districts with bricks and other objects.
Many metro and rail stations were closed after the protesters blocked commuters and vandalised trains. Quarrels broke out between commuters, who formed long queues at bus stops. Many bus routes were also cancelled as a number of roads were blocked.
At the University of Hong Kong, chairs, desks and park benches were piled up around entrances and doorways across the camps in an apparent effort to stop police entering.
Graffiti messages including: “Whoever kills must compensate with their lives”, “blood debt must be paid” and “ideas are bulletproof” were scrawled on boards, walls and floor across the campus.
These were referring to the death of Chow Tsz-lok, 22, a student who died on Friday after suffering brain damage following a fall during protests. It marks the first death from injuries sustained during anti-government demonstrations that have overtaken the city.
“I feel totally hopeless – I don’t want to resort to violence, but peaceful protest doesn’t change a thing. I feel there is no future ahead of us,” said a masked medical student on condition of anonymity.
Police entered and fired teargas at several universities for the first time on Monday, after anti-government protesters called for a citywide strike and caused widespread traffic disruption. Police chased protesters into campuses.
The city’s religious leaders appealed on Wednesday for an end to the violence and called on both police and protesters to show restraint. “At this very critical point, the people of Hong Kong must unite and say no to violence,” said a statement issued by the leaders of Hong Kong’s six major religious groups.
