University of Hong Kong will protect its students from summary arrest, says vice chancellor in impromptu dialogue with extradition bill protesters
- Zhang Xiang speaks to students outside his residence and says police without proper arrest warrants will be refused entry to campus
- University will also provide support to students affected by protests and hold forum in coming week to let them air their views
Hong Kong’s oldest university offered protection for students in the first dialogue between young protesters and the embattled institution late on Friday night, about a month after the escalation of a series of protests against a now-suspended extradition bill.
In the 40-minute conversation between Zhang Xiang, vice chancellor and president of the University of Hong Kong, and about 100 protesting students, Zhang maintained that violence by any party, including those who broke into the city’s legislature building in Admiralty on July 1, should be condemned.
However, he made clear that he was not targeting student protesters when he said in a statement on July 3 that he was disheartened by the violence at the Legislative Council and condemned destructive acts.
Zhang also promised he would not let police officers enter the campus and arrest students if they did not produce lawful warrants, and that the university would support students affected by the protests by any possible means.
“I appreciate our students’ concerns for society,” Zhang said in his late-night roadside conversation at the campus with the students. “Actually, this is what a society with democracy and real freedom should be about.”