Student protesters hold out as Hong Kong leader urges peaceful resolution

[November 19, 2019]  By Marius Zaharia and Donny Kwok

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she hoped a standoff between police and a hold-out group of anti-government protesters at a university could be resolved and she had told police to handle it humanely.

About 100 protesters remained in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which has been surrounded by police, after more than two days of clashes. Some 280 injured were taken to hospitals on Tuesday, the Hospital Authority said.

Police have arrested about 1,100 people in the past day on charges including rioting and possession of offensive weapons, they said.

Lam spoke shortly after the city's new police chief urged the support of all citizens to end more than five months of unrest that was triggered by fears that China's central government is stifling the city's special autonomy and freedoms.

In what many will see as an illustration of Beijing's tightening grip, China's legislature questioned the legality of a Monday Hong Kong court ruling that a ban on face masks worn by protesters was unlawful.
 

The National People's Congress (NPC) said Hong Kong courts had no power to rule on the constitutionality of city legislation, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

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.

"If the protesters are coming out in a peaceful manner ... then there is no situation when that sort of violence would happen," she told a press briefing.

However, police would have to take "necessary action" if the situation changed, she said. Lam said she had been shocked that campuses had been turned into "weapons factories".

'IN TROUBLE

On the sprawling Polytechnic campus in the Kowloon district, a sense of despair prevailed amid the shriek of fire alarms on Tuesday afternoon.

"I feel I'm in trouble," said a 22-year-old who gave his name as Marcus, as he sat with two friends in the campus canteen, at a table piled with dirty dishes and plastic cups, debating their options.

"We keep trying to think how to escape, but every time we pick a spot we see many police nearby," Marcus said.

"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, known as PolyU, is the last of five that protesters occupied to use as bases from which to disrupt the city, blocking the central cross-harbour tunnel and main roads and forcing the closure of businesses including shopping malls. Their aim, they said, is to put the government under economic pressure.

Lam said 600 protesters had left the campus, including 200 below the age of 18.

Hundreds of them fled from the university or surrendered overnight amid running battles on nearby streets as police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets and protesters lobbed petrol bombs and bricks.

On Tuesday, about a dozen protesters tried to flee through the university's sewerage system. A Reuters witness who saw them lower themselves into a tunnel wearing gas masks and plastic sheets to cover their bodies.

Protesters leave the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) campus to surrender to police, in Hong Kong, China November 19, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

They were not able to escape and had to climb back out of the tunnel.

Many protesters say they fear more bloodshed in a standoff that has seen some of the most intense violence in what has become the worst crisis since Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

'COME HOME SAFELY'

The U.N. human rights office said some demonstrators' resorting to extreme violence, including against police, was "deeply regrettable and cannot be condoned" and voiced concern that the situation could deteriorate.

Spokesman Rupert Colville urged authorities to de-escalate the situation at the Polytechnic University and address the humanitarian situation of those inside.

One woman said her son was inside the campus with his girlfriend and they would come out but for the fear of facing charges of rioting, which can carry a 10-year sentence.

"I know the young people see there are many unrighteous things in society, they want to do something to change it," said the woman, who gave her name as Chan, 50.

"But as parents, we only have one wish. We only want all of them to come home safely."

Protesters were initially angered by a now-withdrawn bill that could have sent people to mainland China for trial. Their campaign has broadened into calls for full democracy and an end to what many see as meddling by Beijing in China's freest city.

China says it is committed to the "one country, two systems" formula and has accused foreign countries, including Britain and the United States, of inciting trouble.

Dennis Kwok, a lawmaker with the pro-democracy Civic party, denounced the NPC statement on the court ruling as "shocking".

"Respect the courts in Hong Kong, respect our system - this is the essence of 'one country two systems'," he said.

Hundreds of people, many office workers wearing masks, gathered in the business district on Tuesday afternoon for a largely peaceful protest.

While the number of people demonstrating over the past week has fallen, the violence has worsened.

The city's Cross Harbour Tunnel linking Hong Kong island to Kowloon remained shut due to damage, while some train services and many roads were closed.

All schools were shut.

The unrest poses the gravest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.

(Reporting by Twinnie Siu, Donny Kwok, Clare Jim, Greg Torode, Sharon Tam, Jessie Pang, James Pomfret, Adnan Abidi, Nick Macfie and David Lague, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Farah Master and Tony Munroe; Editing by Paul Tait and Robert Birsel)

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