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| Hong Kong Protests: Brawl Erupts Downtown as Students Gear Up to Fight Police | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| HONG KONG — Students on Hong Kong’s university campuses erected roadblocks and gathered bricks in preparation for battle with the police on Wednesday, as residents navigated severe transit disruptions and office workers brawled with officers in the heart of the financial district. | HONG KONG — Students on Hong Kong’s university campuses erected roadblocks and gathered bricks in preparation for battle with the police on Wednesday, as residents navigated severe transit disruptions and office workers brawled with officers in the heart of the financial district. |
| This week’s disruptions are notable because they have strained the city’s infrastructure during ordinary workdays, forcing commuters to choose whether to venture outside and risk being caught up in clashes and tear gas. The protests started in June over an extradition bill that has since been withdrawn, and have morphed into broader demands for democracy and police accountability. | This week’s disruptions are notable because they have strained the city’s infrastructure during ordinary workdays, forcing commuters to choose whether to venture outside and risk being caught up in clashes and tear gas. The protests started in June over an extradition bill that has since been withdrawn, and have morphed into broader demands for democracy and police accountability. |
| Schools and universities have become flash points. A day after young demonstrators staged a fiery standoff against the police on the fringes of a university campus, another university canceled in-person lectures for the remainder of the fall semester. | |
| Here’s the latest on the Hong Kong protests. | Here’s the latest on the Hong Kong protests. |
| Student demonstrators with umbrellas, masks, bricks and shields geared up on Wednesday at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a campus that has become a focal point of the confrontation between the protesters and the police. | Student demonstrators with umbrellas, masks, bricks and shields geared up on Wednesday at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a campus that has become a focal point of the confrontation between the protesters and the police. |
| On Tuesday night, riot police officers fired dozens of rounds of tear gas at demonstrators there who set a giant blaze and threw gasoline bombs in a clash that lasted for hours and left dozens injured. | On Tuesday night, riot police officers fired dozens of rounds of tear gas at demonstrators there who set a giant blaze and threw gasoline bombs in a clash that lasted for hours and left dozens injured. |
| Protesters at other universities were also building barricades at campus entrances and digging up paving stones on Wednesday in preparation for a potential standoff with the police. | Protesters at other universities were also building barricades at campus entrances and digging up paving stones on Wednesday in preparation for a potential standoff with the police. |
| The activists say they are defending their campuses from police intrusion. The police assert that they have to stop demonstrators from blocking roads, throwing bricks or trying to disrupt rail services. | The activists say they are defending their campuses from police intrusion. The police assert that they have to stop demonstrators from blocking roads, throwing bricks or trying to disrupt rail services. |
| Wong Wai Shun, a top police official, told reporters on Wednesday that the aim of the dispersal operation at CUHK the night before had been to stop “rioters” from throwing debris from a bridge onto a road below. | |
| He also presented arrows that he said had been collected from the site of the clash, and which he said could penetrate officers’ protective gear if shot from bows at distances of up to about 260 feet. | |
| Since the protests began, the movement has been driven in large part by high school and university-age students. But until recently, campuses were a relative safe zone from violent clashes. | Since the protests began, the movement has been driven in large part by high school and university-age students. But until recently, campuses were a relative safe zone from violent clashes. |
| John Lee, Hong Kong’s secretary for security, defended the police on Wednesday. Universities are not meant to be “breeding grounds for violence,” he told reporters. “If someone sees violence and does not stop it, then that person becomes an accomplice.” | John Lee, Hong Kong’s secretary for security, defended the police on Wednesday. Universities are not meant to be “breeding grounds for violence,” he told reporters. “If someone sees violence and does not stop it, then that person becomes an accomplice.” |
| The Education Bureau said on Wednesday morning that it was up to parents whether their children attended school, and that schools should keep their campuses open regardless. The bureau’s statement immediately prompted criticism from unions on opposite sides of the city’s political spectrum. | The Education Bureau said on Wednesday morning that it was up to parents whether their children attended school, and that schools should keep their campuses open regardless. The bureau’s statement immediately prompted criticism from unions on opposite sides of the city’s political spectrum. |
| The education bureau later said that all classes at Hong Kong kindergartens, primary and secondary schools would be suspended on Thursday. And the president of Hong Kong Baptist University said in an email to students and staff that all “on-campus face-to-face sessions” for the remainder of the fall semester would be postponed or conducted online. | |
| Large groups of riot police officers disrupted a rally in the city’s financial district around lunchtime on Wednesday, making multiple arrests and beating protesters with batons. | Large groups of riot police officers disrupted a rally in the city’s financial district around lunchtime on Wednesday, making multiple arrests and beating protesters with batons. |
| Many of the protesters were there to support the students who had been battling the police at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday night. Office workers in suits and ties formed a human supply chain to move water and umbrellas to the front-line protesters. | Many of the protesters were there to support the students who had been battling the police at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday night. Office workers in suits and ties formed a human supply chain to move water and umbrellas to the front-line protesters. |
| “The Chinese University students suffered yesterday, come join us,” some of them chanted at bystanders. | “The Chinese University students suffered yesterday, come join us,” some of them chanted at bystanders. |
| When the police swooped in and started beating protesters, the crowd fought back, and a brawl erupted outside a luxury mall that houses an Apple store. | When the police swooped in and started beating protesters, the crowd fought back, and a brawl erupted outside a luxury mall that houses an Apple store. |
| By early afternoon, the streets around the mall had the feel of a militarized zone, and were deserted except for a handful of officers, workers and tourists taking pictures. Some among a crowd of people in office attire started heckling the riot officers, calling them gangsters, driving the police to retreat. | By early afternoon, the streets around the mall had the feel of a militarized zone, and were deserted except for a handful of officers, workers and tourists taking pictures. Some among a crowd of people in office attire started heckling the riot officers, calling them gangsters, driving the police to retreat. |
| The Chinese central government’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong condemned the flare-up of protest violence, warning in a statement issued online late Tuesday that months of protests had “pushed Hong Kong into an extremely dangerous place.” | |
| “This murderous conduct in broad daylight is brazen terrorism,” the office said of a man who was set alight by protesters on Tuesday. “This shows absolutely no bottom line in behavior, absolutely no humanity or morality, and absolutely no fear of the law.” | |
| The most likely scenario now is that the Hong Kong government will more broadly invoke the city’s emergency regulations ordinance, said Lau Siu-kai, vice chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a semiofficial advisory body set up by Beijing. | |
| The Hong Kong government invoked the colonial-era ordinance last month to impose a ban on face masks at public gatherings. In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Lau said it might be used again to enact a curfew, although the question of how the police would enforce it remained unclear. | |
| “If people defy a curfew, do you use live ammunition to enforce it?” he said. “That is the decision to be made, the government is still very reluctant to do it.” | |
| The Hong Kong police said on Wednesday that some of the city’s marine police officers had been deployed to help evacuate mainland Chinese students who are attending the Chinese University. | The Hong Kong police said on Wednesday that some of the city’s marine police officers had been deployed to help evacuate mainland Chinese students who are attending the Chinese University. |
| News of the evacuations prompted biting criticism of the Hong Kong Police on social media. Some users said it was hypocritical for the force to support mainland students while waging violence against local ones. | News of the evacuations prompted biting criticism of the Hong Kong Police on social media. Some users said it was hypocritical for the force to support mainland students while waging violence against local ones. |
| China’s Communist Youth League, the youth division of the ruling Communist Party, offered the students seven days of free accommodation at its lodgings in Shenzhen, a mainland Chinese city that lies just over the border from Hong Kong. The group, in a social media post, touted the lodgings as a “comfortable environment” and a “welcoming place to set foot in Shenzhen.” | China’s Communist Youth League, the youth division of the ruling Communist Party, offered the students seven days of free accommodation at its lodgings in Shenzhen, a mainland Chinese city that lies just over the border from Hong Kong. The group, in a social media post, touted the lodgings as a “comfortable environment” and a “welcoming place to set foot in Shenzhen.” |
| The protesters who clashed with the police outside the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday were angry over the police shooting of a young demonstrator at point-blank range on a street corner a day earlier. (He was in serious condition as of Tuesday.) | The protesters who clashed with the police outside the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday were angry over the police shooting of a young demonstrator at point-blank range on a street corner a day earlier. (He was in serious condition as of Tuesday.) |
| The police force said that 142 people were arrested across Hong Kong on Tuesday on charges that included illegal assembly, destruction of public property, assaulting police officers and wearing masks during public assemblies. | |
| Police officers also fired 1,567 rounds of tear gas, 1,312 rubber bullets 380 bean bag rounds, the force said. | |
| Tensions had been building after the death last week of a student who fell from a parking garage amid demonstrations. Many in the protest movement now see the student, Chow Tsz-lok, as a martyr. | Tensions had been building after the death last week of a student who fell from a parking garage amid demonstrations. Many in the protest movement now see the student, Chow Tsz-lok, as a martyr. |
| Hong Kong’s youth are angry over what they see as a steady erosion of civil liberties under Chinese rule as well as the city’s sky-high cost of living. They also fear that their city’s unique culture and identity will be gradually subsumed by growing mainland Chinese influence. | Hong Kong’s youth are angry over what they see as a steady erosion of civil liberties under Chinese rule as well as the city’s sky-high cost of living. They also fear that their city’s unique culture and identity will be gradually subsumed by growing mainland Chinese influence. |
| There were widespread transit disruptions across the Asian financial center on Wednesday, marking the third straight day that protesters had impeded some of the city’s essential infrastructure. | There were widespread transit disruptions across the Asian financial center on Wednesday, marking the third straight day that protesters had impeded some of the city’s essential infrastructure. |
| Tiffany May, Keith Bradsher, Ezra Cheung and Austin Ramzy contributed reporting. | Tiffany May, Keith Bradsher, Ezra Cheung and Austin Ramzy contributed reporting. |