Shenzhen and Hong Kong-based groups help mainland Chinese students flee city
- Communist Youth League branch across the border opens doors of its centres for temporary stays
- Marine police deploy boat to ferry students back to the mainland
Organisations in Shenzhen and Hong Kong have joined the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong to offer help to mainland students amid campus clashes in the special administrative region.
The city has been rocked by five months of protests triggered by a now withdrawn extradition bill, with universities the new battleground for clashes between protesters and police.
In Shenzhen, the city’s branch of the Communist Youth League is allowing students returning to the mainland to stay free for up to seven days at one of 12 of its accommodation facilities, the league said in an online notice early Wednesday morning.
“The Shenzhen Youth Community provides free accommodation for graduates as well as mainland students studying in Hong Kong,” the notice said, listing contact details for the centres.
Associations in Shenzhen were helping students wanting to leave Hong Kong by sharing posts on social media with instructions on who to contact for transport and assistance.
Li Da, secretary general of Dapeng district’s Overseas Chinese Returnees Association, said 150 mainland students in Hong Kong had contacted him about leaving the city.
