Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

A Hong Kong university becomes a battleground in the latest round of protests

A Hong Kong university becomes a battleground in the latest round of protests

Police trapped demonstrators inside the campus in a standoff that lasted hours.

The campus of a Hong Kong university transformed into an apocalyptic scene on Monday as riot police armed with tear gas and rubber bullets surrounded pro-democracy protesters.

The standoff between authorities and protesters at Hong Kong Polytechnic University has turned into one of the fiercest, most violent conflicts in the nearly six months of protests in the autonomous territory.

What began as a movement to block a controversial extradition bill morphed into a sustained call for greater democratic rights in Hong Kong and a pushback against the growing influence of China. The demonstrations have grown increasingly tense in recent weeks. Last week, police shot a protester and demonstrators set a pro-Beijing activist on fire.

Protesters have been occupying parts of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus since last week, but the confrontation with police escalated dramatically on Sunday and into Monday, turning the campus into a war zone. Protesters hunkered down and barricaded themselves against police, flinging firebombs and debris and even firing arrows at riot police. Police threatened to use live ammunition in response.

Early Monday local time, riot police rushed the campus, effectively trapping hundreds of demonstrators inside. Authorities cornered the activists and delivered an ultimatum, calling on them to surrender or face a barrage of tear gas. Police said those who do surrender will face arrest and potential charges of rioting, which means individuals could face up to 10 years in prison.



Some demonstrators have managed to sneak away; photographers documented people running along a footbridge away from campus. But others are holed up, waiting for an opportunity to break free and avoid arrest.



Han, a 23-year-old protester and first aider, told me she was hiding inside a classroom at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, resting before trying once again to find a way out. We spoke through a translator based in the UK via WhatsApp.

Han said that protests broke out at PolyU because it’s near major infrastructure; protesters wanted to block those areas to create real impact and force the government to listen to their demands. “Students [don’t] want to fight these battles, they just want the government to listen to their demands,” she said.

Some protesters pleaded for help on social media, saying they were cornered by police with no defense and running out of food and medicine. Supporters of the campus protesters tried to form a human chain to deliver medical supplies, helmets, food, and water. According to the Wall Street Journal, the link stretched miles but failed to penetrate the police barricade.

Hong Kong officials said they were allowing the Red Cross to enter the campus and treat injured protesters.

Other supporters -including parents of some students at the university -staged a sit-in outside campus. They carried signs that said “Save our Kids.”


Demonstrators also flocked to other parts of the city, trying to distract and draw police away from the campus so demonstrators there could escape. Scenes of chaos also emerged in other parts of Hong Kong as demonstrators blocked traffic, many carrying umbrellas to fend off tear gas.


The Hong Kong protests are growing increasingly tense, with no obvious solution in sight

At least 150 people were arrested over the weekend, according to the New York Times. That number is likely to rise, though, as about 500 protesters were still believed to be trapped inside campus well past midnight local time.

Police said they had arrested more than 50 people who “claimed to be journalists or medics” on Monday, according to the Hong Kong Free Press. The BBC reported that, per Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, more than 100 people had been injured.

And authorities seem prepared to outlast the protesters. Cheuk Hau-yip, the regional police commander, threatened arrest for anyone on campus, saying officers had given protesters “enough time and enough warnings.”

“If they surrender and come out, we will arrange the appropriate medical help for them,” Cheuk said, according to the Washington Post.

Tensions between police and protesters have fueled the protests in recent weeks, as pro-democracy activists accuse authorities of using heavy-handed and violent tactics to crush otherwise peaceful protests. Police, in turn, point to very real examples of vandalism and violence as part of the demonstrations to justify the use of force. Demonstrators say they’re just trying to defend themselves.

That has led to specific demands from the protesters, including releasing all those arrested for rioting and an independent inquiry of the Hong Kong police force. The Hong Kong government, led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, has so far resisted, saying the current body is equipped to handle a review.

This impasse has created an untenable situation in Hong Kong -though some protesters see the police response as galvanizing Hongkongers. “The unacceptable use of violence by the police is pushing more people, i.e. supporters of peaceful protests, to believe they [should] come out and protect the students,” Han said. “So I do think all these protesters’ operations [are] leading to a positive outcome.”

Also on Monday, a Hong Kong court ruled that the government’s face-mask ban -introduced last month -was unlawful. Though many protesters had been defying the ban anyway, it was another example of the Hong Kong government’s botched and aggressive attempt to curtail the unrest.

As the Washington Post noted, Lam has remained largely quiet during the unrest this weekend. Hong Kong has its own government system under the “one country, two systems” rule that has been in place since Great Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997 and is supposed to last until 2047. Protesters see Beijing’s encroachment ahead of that date as an existential threat to their territory.

On Monday, the Chinese government warned that “no-one should underestimate” Beijing’s will “to safeguard its sovereignty and Hong Kong’s stability.”

Beijing interceding directly in Hong Kong would inflame tensions, and so far it has stopped short of such measures. But China has grown increasingly impatient with the uprising in Hong Kong, which has hurt the economy in the territory.

The campus unrest also threatens to derail upcoming local elections in Hong Kong, scheduled for this weekend, where pro-democracy lawmakers are expected to win big. Some fear that the Hong Kong government might cancel or postpone the elections, citing the violence in the city.

That would deny Hong Kong a democratic outlet for their discontent -exactly what protesters are fighting to preserve.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×