HONG KONG: Rebellious students and anti-government protesters abandoned their occupation of nearly all of Hong Kong’s universities Saturday after a near week-long siege by police, but at least one major campus remained under control of demonstrators.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers joined pro-China residents to clean up barricades and debris after anti-government protests blocked roads, according to the broadcaster RTHK.
Traffic disruptions continued to plague some areas, and schools and universities remained closed in the city of 7.5 million people. But for a city now accustomed to fierce weekend clashes, Hong Kong had a relatively quiet Saturday. About 1,000 people turned out for an annual Gay Pride event in the centre of the city.
Troops from the Chinese army, dressed in black shorts and olive drab T-shirts, joined an effort to clean up debris outside Kowloon Tong Baptist University, which was the site of clashes this week.
Dozens of troops from a nearby barracks helped street cleaners pick up paving stones, rocks and other obstacles that had cluttered the street and prevented traffic from flowing. Hong Kong riot police kept watch from nearby streets.
The soldiers, jogging in formation, carrying brooms and singing, were a rare sight on the streets of the city. China maintains a garrison of about 10,000 soldiers, but they can't operationally deploy without a request from the Hong Kong government.
There were scattered incidents of protesters arguing with people clearing roadways, and in one instance, throwing a gasoline bomb near City University of Hong Kong.
On Saturday morning, a group of around 500 people, mostly middle-aged and senior citizens, rallied outside the Hong Kong government's headquarters to show support for the police, who have been heavily criticised over their handling of the crisis.
Now in their sixth month, the anti-government protests have grown increasingly violent even as they have shrunk in size, often causing chaos in the streets.
The protests were sparked by a government decision to submit legislation that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to the mainland. Activists saw it as an erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy under the “one country, two systems” formula implemented in 1997, when Britain returned the territory to China.
The bill has been withdrawn, but the protests have expanded into a wider resistance movement against what is perceived as the growing control of Hong Kong by Communist China, along with calls for more autonomy for the territory.
Universities have become the focus of the protests in the past week and the main battleground between pro-democracy activists and the police.
Police retook control of suburban Chinese University of Hong Kong after students and protesters left. Authorities said that all lanes of Tolo Highway, which the Chinese University protesters had blocked, were reopened around midday.
Police and protesters fought intense running battles at the Chinese University campus Tuesday, which had been transformed into a fortress by hundreds of protesters.
Except for the Polytechnic University in Kowloon, most of the remaining nine major universities in the city were for the most part no longer occupied, except by a handful of protesters. A hardcore group, numbering about 100, retained their grip on Polytechnic.
Students there have amassed a huge arsenal that includes hundreds of Molotov cocktails, rocks and paving stones. The campus is adjacent to a major road tunnel under the water to Hong Kong island that has been closed for days after protesters set toll booths on fire.
Service remained partially suspended on at least three of Hong Kong’s 12 rail lines because of damage to stations and other facilities, and many of the city’s buses were not running.
The presidents of nine universities issued a joint statement late Friday calling on the government to resolve the political deadlock and restore safety and public order.
“No political viewpoint gives a licence to damage property, employ physical threats, or use violence against individuals,” the statement read in part. “It is regrettable that societal disagreement has led to university campuses becoming major political battlefields, and that the government response has so far not been effective.”
Many universities have canceled classes for the rest of the year and hundreds of foreign students, and from mainland China, had left or were leaving Hong Kong. Some protesters targeted mainland students, while foreign students were asked to leave by their universities or governments.
Hong Kong media reported on Saturday that at least 300 Dutch exchange students were asked by their home universities to return home because of the violence.