Tightened security, unease over new national security law, as Hong Kong campuses mark first anniversary of protest violence
- PolyU calls off screening of TV documentary on campus siege; Chinese University advises students not to break law
- Violent clashes between radical protesters, police during siege of PolyU a vivid memory for witnesses
Veteran social sciences academic Rodney Chu Wai-chi’s memories of the scenes at Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University in November last year remain vivid to this day.
The vice-chairman of the university’s staff association and elected council member said in an interview with the Post: “How can I forget what I experienced back then?”
After more than 1,000 hardcore protesters and their supporters – including teenagers – moved into the university grounds, hundreds of police officers locked down the campus in a siege that lasted 13 days, from November 17 to 29, and at times resembled a war zone.
The protesters forced the closure of the nearby Cross-Harbour Tunnel, set fire to footbridges and the campus entrance, set a police armoured vehicle ablaze and even shot an officer in the calf with a bow and arrow. Police responded with tear gas and water cannon.
PolyU was the worst hit of the Hong Kong universities affected by the protests a year ago. At least four others were briefly occupied, with Chinese University also suffering large-scale damage from violent clashes during a five-day occupation.