Campus clashes as universities become new battleground in Hong Kong anti-government unrest
- Chinese University’s Sha Tin site was again plunged into hours-long confrontations between police and demonstrators
- Protesters were angered by a student’s recent death, and by school bosses’ response to citywide turmoil
At noon on Tuesday, a post widely circulated among Hong Kong protesters’ groups called in reinforcements for their comrades at three universities, labelling the schools the “most important battlegrounds, which must not be lost”.
It was the second day Chinese University (CUHK) was plunged into hours-long, intense confrontations between police and anti-government demonstrators. It was also a day police fired tear gas outside City University as early as 7.20am, and got into a showdown with students at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
Police said they had every right to enter campuses to make arrests, and the sites should not be safe havens for criminals. But to some students, campuses are like homes and must be duly guarded, even with escalating violence.
“The university is a place for academic freedom. It’s not entirely a public place that the police can enter whenever they want,” said a CUHK postgraduate student, who took part in stand-offs at the Sha Tin campus on both Monday and Tuesday and wished to remain anonymous.
Protesters started by moving sporting equipment to a roadblock outside the university gym. They later set fire to a trashed car inside the campus and threw petrol bombs.