New | Surrounded: University of Hong Kong students besiege governing council meeting, demand talks with Arthur Li
About 200 student protesters storm HKU Council session at Sassoon Road campus in Pok Fu Lam, protesting about governance structure. A ring of students blocking all exits leads to an hours-long standoff before Arthur Li is snuck out an alternative exit
Chaos erupted on the University of Hong Kong campus again last night as angry students besieged a governing council meeting, although members agreed to start a review of the institution’s governance structure in the wake of a stormy political year.
By 10pm, about 200 student protesters remained at the Sassoon Road campus in Pok Fu Lam, refusing to let new council chairman Arthur Li Kwok-cheung and HKU vice chancellor Peter Mathieson leave.
READ MORE: ‘Reasonable’ for University of Hong Kong students to besiege council meeting, says student union president
“Conversation!” they yelled, demanding talks with them. The students stormed the venue upon an apparent misunderstanding that there would be no immediate review, but they were kept well away from the meeting room.
Police Tactical Unit officers were deployed to help council members leave. One female employee was injured and sent to hospital.
“We want a detailed timetable and a face-to-face conversation with Li...”
The council agreed to appoint Terry Au Kit-fong, chair professor of psychology, as the interim pro-vice-chancellor for academic staffing and resources, a post that the council controversially refused to let pro-democracy law professor Johannes Chan Man-mun take up last year. That triggered a storm, with critics complaining of political interference.