This father and son were among those refusing to leave the PolyU campus over Monday and Tuesday. Photo: Sum Lok-kei
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https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3038365/hong-kong-protests-police-siege-polytechnic-university Politics
Hong Kong protests: parents searching for children among PolyU radical protesters get caught in police lockdown
- Two fathers say they found their teenage sons, but could not get away from campus
- Hundreds of radicals and supporters hold out overnight before surrendering on Tuesday
There were chaotic scenes when police made arrests at Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. The stand-off has continued long into Tuesday. Photo: AP
The siege of Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University by police trapped not only radical protesters, but also social workers, first-aid volunteers and parents who said they were there to get their children out.
John, 58, stood with his son near the main entrance of the university in Hung Hom on Monday night, hoping to find a way out, after their earlier getaway attempt failed.
Another father, Li, 45, mulled his next move after his plan to take his teenage son home also fell flat.
It is not known how the fathers and their sons fared on Tuesday, when only a few dozen people were believed to be still inside the campus, a stark contrast to the scenes of violent clashes between police and hundreds of masked radicals earlier.
A police lockdown led to hundreds eventually leaving overnight on Monday and on Tuesday. As of 3pm on Tuesday, police said, about 1,100 people from the campus and nearby had been arrested or, if they were minors, had their particulars registered before they were allowed to go home.
About 600 left voluntarily, including 200 minors. The adults included 47 PolyU teaching and administrative staff.
John said he arrived on Sunday to look for his 18-year-old son, a PolyU student. Then the situation took a turn for the worse.
Radicals at PolyU rained petrol bombs on police and set an armoured vehicle of the force ablaze. Police responded with volleys of tear gas, then cut off all campus exits and ordered those inside to leave.
Of those who emerged, only accredited journalists were not arrested.
John and his son were still inside on Monday night when he said: “They said on Sunday we could leave, but we saw people ahead being arrested, no matter whether they were first aiders or kids. There were no options or room for negotiation.”
His son was thankful that his father had looked for him and found him, despite the intense clashes going on.
“I am grateful, he has also come to some protests with me,” the teenager said.
Still inside early on Tuesday, John said all he wanted was for the two of them to get home safely.
Li said his 15-year-old son went to the university on Saturday to provide first aid. The father arrived to search for the boy the next day.
“I did not do anything, I just came to get my kid,” Li said. “I don’t want to be arrested.”
The father and son found each other at 7pm on Sunday, by which police had already put the campus on lockdown.
“I don’t know who to turn to, to get out,” Li said on Tuesday morning.
It is not known what happened to John, Li and their sons afterwards.
Social workers and volunteer first aiders were among those still inside the campus on Tuesday morning. Some first-aiders feared they would be arrested for rioting if they left through the police checkpoints.
A female social worker said she was on campus since Thursday, counselling youngsters among the protesters.
The police decision to contain the radicals and their supporters within the campus had an emotional impact on many, she said.
They feared that they would be shot if they obeyed the police order to leave, she said, yet they were also worried that if they remained, there would be no reporters present to witness what happened to them.
Despite the threat of being arrested for rioting, the social worker said she did not regret going there.
“We are not the ones who have paid the heaviest price,” she said. “I don’t want to be on the sidelines.”
Pak, a 20-year-old who described himself as a first-aider, said he was struggling to decide whether to leave. “I came to save people,” he said.
He said many first-aiders were considering surrendering because they did not want to risk harming police officers if they needed to use force to get out.
In a daring episode on Monday night, dozens of people found a spot at the edge of the campus and abseiled down a footbridge to a highway and took off in getaway vehicles.
Protesters lower themselves down with ropes from a bridge to a highway at Hong Kong Polytechnic University to escape from police overnight on Monday. Photo: Felix Wong
But many others remained on campus overnight, but on Tuesday morning, some of those who decided to leave said they were cold and hungry.
“We only had biscuits,” a boy said. “We haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon.”
Rain Lau, 28, said some volunteers managed to cook some noodles on Monday night, but the situation had deteriorated and there was only packaged food.
The area in and around PolyU has more closely resembled a war zone than a tertiary education site over the last few days. Photo: Sam Tsang
Lau said she went to the PolyU campus for a “safeguard children rally” on Saturday and ended up being trapped there.
She said she was too tired to stay much longer, even if it meant being arrested. “Lawyers have also told us we won’t be charged immediately and can probably be bailed,” she said.
Nathan, 18, was in a group that left the campus on Tuesday morning, prepared to be arrested. His mother reported him to his school principal.
He said he and others tried several times throughout Monday to break through the police line and escape, but each time they failed and people were arrested.
“Each time we lost 50, and then another 100, and the chance of walking out free slipped away,” he said.
Among the principals who spent Monday night on campus trying to persuade their students to leave was Joshua Lau Chi-kin, who said many refused to go because they did not want to leave others behind.
He spent three hours talking to two students, aged 15 and 16, advising them to leave on Tuesday morning.
“They felt their comrades were still there,” he said. “I could only tell them I was worried about them.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Yang, a mainlander, was holding a large piece of paper that said: “I am a visitor from the mainland and I have been trapped in the campus for two days. I am so scared, I want to go home!”
He said he planned to visit the nearby History Museum on Sunday with a PolyU student but found the museum closed, so they went to the campus instead.
“I visited the library and wanted to leave at about 5pm or 6pm, but the exits were closed so we stayed for dinner,” he said.
He spent the next two days taking refuge in the library.
“I’ve been so scared, it’s been like a battlefield, particularly the fires and shooting,” Yang said. “I just want to leave, but they said whoever goes out will be accused of rioting.”
On Tuesday afternoon, nine parents worried about their children were seen holding cardboard signs at the police cordon outside New Mandarin Plaza shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui.
One poster said: “Always support and love you. Just want you to be safe!”
The mother of a fourth-year University of Hong Kong student said: “He is very peace-loving and is not a protester. He only went into the campus to support the movement. He is trapped inside with his girlfriend.
“He wants to come out, but he said he was afraid to come out, most likely because the government will label him a rioter.”
Another mother, surnamed Lau, said her 20-year-old son was inside the campus. “As parents, we feel very helpless,” she said.
Another mother said: “As parents, we only wish that they come out safely, and hope they won’t be treated unfairly.”