Hong Kong university standoff: Dozens of students trapped, rescued
About 20 pro-democracy protesters have surrendered after being trapped inside a Hong Kong university, some fleeing into sewers during a dramatic standoff.
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More than 20 protesters inside a Hong Kong university have surrendered to police with pro-Beijing political advocates urging voters to “kick out the black force” in a key gauge of support for anti-government demonstrations.
At least 23 people left Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Thursday, which has been ringed by riot police for days, as the campus siege edges closer to an end. Ten protesters walked out together and were escorted to a police post outside the campus, while three were carried out on stretchers and four taken in wheelchairs.
Five other students, believed to be minors, came out with their parents and were allowed to leave after police took their details.
It is unclear how many protesters remain. They are the holdouts from a much larger group that occupied the campus over the weekend.
Some 1000 protesters have either surrendered or been stopped trying to flee.
The city’s largest political party slammed the flare-up in violence and urged 4.1 million voters to use the ballot box this Sunday to reject the “black force” that had thrown the semi-autonomous Chinese territory into unprecedented turmoil.
“The black force say they want to fight for freedom but now people cannot even express their views freely,” said Starry Lee, who heads the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
“We have even been stripped of our right to go to school and work.”
Protesters, who believe mainland China is increasing its control over the territory are demanding fully democratic elections and an independent probe into alleged police brutality against demonstrators.
The government, which rejected the demands, has warned the polls could be delayed if violence persists and transport links are disrupted.
Earlier on Thursday, there were long lines and delays at some subway stations. Some stations remained shut and protesters tried to block train doors but the disruption was relatively minor.
More than 5000 people have been arrested since the protests started in June over a now-abandoned extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.
The anti-government protesters holed up in a Hong Kong university had searched for escape routes after more than two days of clashes with police.
About 100 protesters were trapped in the Polytechnic University a day after students – some tired and fearful of police storming the campus – tried again and again to flee, only to be beaten back by police firing rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas.
Some 235 injured were taken to hospital on Tuesday, the Hospital Authority said.
“I just want to leave. I feel very tired,” said Thomas, 20, a student at another university who has been on the campus since the siege began.
“I didn’t throw Molotovs. I was here to support the protest.”
He then walked slowly, with about 10 others, towards police, who searched and arrested him. He had the phone numbers of lawyers written on his right forearm.
Late in the evening, another small group tried to run for it through the main gate.
Most, if not all, ended up running back into the campus as police shouted at them and flashed their torches rather than firing.
Police said nearly 800 people had left the campus peacefully by 11pm local time and would be investigated, including nearly 300 under the age of 18.
About 20 volunteer medics had also left.
About 1100 people had been arrested in the past 24 hours on charges including rioting and possession of offensive weapons, police added.
The total since citywide protests began in June is more than 5000.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said she hoped the stand-off could be resolved and she had told police to handle it humanely.
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Lam spoke shortly after the Chinese-ruled city’s new police chief urged the support of all citizens to end more than five months of unrest triggered by fears that China’s central government is stifling the former British colony’s special autonomy and freedoms, including its independent judiciary.
Hundreds of protesters fled from the university or surrendered overnight and on Monday amid running battles on nearby streets, where demonstrators threw petrol bombs and rocks at police.
Some made it out by rope and motorcycle.
About a dozen tried and failed to flee through the university’s sewers.
A Reuters witness saw them lower themselves into a tunnel wearing gas masks and plastic sheets, but the tunnel was too narrow.
There were rumours others had made it by the same route on Tuesday.
“I feel I’m in trouble,” said a 22-year-old who gave his name as Marcus, sitting with two friends in the campus canteen at a table piled with dirty dishes and plastic cups.
“We keep trying to think how to escape, but every time we pick a spot we see many police nearby. But if we give up, we’re finished.”
In the campus central square, a giant “SOS” call for help was spelled out in pink, blue and yellow bath towels.
The university is the last of five that protesters have occupied to use as bases from which to disrupt the city, blocking the Cross-Harbour Tunnel outside and other arteries.
Lam said her government was very much on the “reactive side” in dealing with the protests but she did not rule out more violence even as she urged peace.
Lam said she had been shocked that campuses had been turned into “weapons factories”.
In what many will see as an illustration of Beijing’s tightening grip, China’s legislature questioned the legality of a Hong Kong court ruling that a ban on face masks worn by protesters was unlawful.
The National People’s Congress said Hong Kong courts had no power to rule on the constitutionality of city legislation.