Hong Kong riot police disperse protesters after days of standoff near Polytechnic University - Updates

RT
Mon, 18 Nov 2019 13:34 UTC

Riot police began dispersing protesters in Hong Kong after several days of a standoff near the Polytechnic University.

Hundreds of protesters have erected barricades outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and encamped inside. Police have been trying to get the protesters to leave the building, their previous attempts to storm the campus led to fierce clashes.

Large crowds of protesters, meanwhile, have gathered on nearby roadways, shouting "Save PolyU!"

The streets are covered with paving bricks, which were dug out by protesters and used as barricades, as well as weapons against police. The violent radicals also hurled petrol bombs at the officers who responded with tear gas.

The fights near the entrance resembled a hellish warzone as protesters set barricades ablaze in hope of fending off the riot officers. They also managed to set several armored riot cars on fire.

Several groups of demonstrators had earlier tried to escape from the campus and break through police cordons. Most of them were stopped, however, and more than 400 people were detained.

© Ye Aung Thu / AFP

Sporadic clashes also erupted during the day in Tsim Sha Tsui and other areas of the Kowloon district, where PolyU is located. The rioters showered police with rocks, and tear gas was also deployed.

Comment: Acts by protesters are growing increasingly vicious - RT reports that an ambulance was ambushed in Kowloon after a young demonstrator with a head injury was arrested, prompting protesters to hurl rocks and bricks at officers inside the vehicle.

Homemade explosive devices have also been found inside the university:

In an attempt to stave off the chaos a new police chief has been assigned who's calling on the public to end support for the rioting:

Hong Kong's new police chief has taken aim at "fake news" which he claimed has fueled heated protests in the city and harmed the reputation of his officers. He urged locals to reject all violent action.

The new police commissioner, Chris Tang, gave his first-ever press conference soon after he was sworn in on Tuesday, stating "enough is enough" in a city wracked by six months of chaotic protests.

"Whatever your beliefs, do not glorify and put up with the violence," he said, addressing all Hong Kongers. "Do not let the mob further motivate themselves and become more radicalised."

Tang, who is now in charge of 30,000 officers, said the police alone could not put an end to the chaotic protests, and called on residents to vocally "condemn" violence.

"If everyone had come out earlier to condemn the violence, society would not have turned into this state in five months," Tang told the South China Morning Post. "We can only end the unrest with society's condemnation, reflection by the rioters, plus our appropriate tactics."

Tang's promotion comes on the heels of a decision in a Hong Kong court to strike down a facemask ban enacted last month in hopes of making protesters easier to identify. Though the police and government signaled they would abide by the ruling and suspend enforcement of the law, Beijing's parliament weighed in soon after, insisting the move was null and void and that Hong Kong's courts had no right to rule on the question. It is unclear how the law will be enforced going forward.

As the new police chief spoke at his debut presser, about 100 protesters remained barricaded inside the Hong Kong Polytechnic University after one of the most violent weeks of clashes yet. Hundreds of protesters, many of them students, occupied the university last week in the city's latest mass demonstration, prompting running battles with security forces as they tried to escape a police cordon around the school.

In other areas of Hong Kong, some protestors are getting seriously injured by their own bombs:

Petrol bombs have become a key weapon in the demonstrators' arsenal, but the improvised incendiary devices don't always hit their intended target. One video appears to show a protester enveloped in flames, after a petrol bomb misfired. The activist falls to the ground as bystanders scream. Protesters rush to his aid as they try to put out the flames using umbrellas.