Hong Kong protests: more than fourfold surge in under two months in number of school students arrested

Security chief John Lee says of the 3,001 people arrested as of October 31, 165 were younger than 16 years old

Nineteen of those charged with offences such as rioting and possession of offensive weapons

Reading Time:2 minutes

More youths are being arrested amid a rise in violence during clashes. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 10:28pm, 13 Nov 2019Updated: 12:50am, 14 Nov 2019

There has been more than a fourfold rise in under two months in the number of students younger than 16 arrested during the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong, a trend lawmakers have described as “worrying”.

Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu on Wednesday told the Legislative Council that 3,001 people had been arrested in connection with the protests as of October 31 and that 165 were younger than 16 years old – up from 36 by September 11, according to figures obtained by the South China Morning Post.

Social work sector lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun said the surge in youth arrests suggested that police had changed their strategy to mainly target university and secondary school students.

“It is worrying. The rise in the number may explain why the government was reluctant to suspend classes because it is worried secondary school students will come out to the streets,” he said, referring to the Education Bureau’s decision to close schools on Thursday only after the city had already been gripped by travel chaos and protests for three straight weekdays.

The bureau’s announcement came a day after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor refused to make the move to avoid falling into a “protesters’ trap”.

Education groups, including the pro-democracy Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, slammed officials for being irresponsible, overriding education with politics.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x