Mainland Chinese students call for peers in Hong Kong to end protests and return to university
- ‘Come back – it’s time for school!’ is the message on social media ahead of start of academic year on Monday and a planned class boycott in city
- Comments are posted under article in official newspaper saying Hongkongers are welcome to study at mainland colleges
University students in mainland China have put out a call on social media for their peers in Hong Kong to end the anti-government protests that have rocked the city and go back to their studies.
Across the border, students took to popular social network WeChat to tell young Hongkongers to “Come back – it’s time for school!”, urging them to return to campus and hit the books.
The comments – all with the same or a similar message and claiming to be from students across nearly 100 mainland universities – were posted under an article in China Youth Daily on Friday, which said Hong Kong students were welcome to study on the mainland.
In a follow-up report on Saturday, the Communist Youth League’s official newspaper said about 15,700 Hongkongers were studying at more than 300 universities on the mainland as of June. More than 7,000 students from the city had enrolled for the new academic year, it said.