Hong Kong police in an “undeclared war” against young people

This is the opinion of a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong after police attacked students, military style. The toll so far is 80 wounded. Local universities have decided to end the semester early. Schools are also closed.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – What happened yesterday at the Chinese University until late into the night makes it clear that Hong Kong police are engaged in an “undeclared war against the entire young generation,” writes a professor from the same university in a message to his friends.

The professor, who does not want his name made public, describes what happened. Contrary to what the police claim, young people have not engaged in acts of vandalism or guerrilla warfare. Thus, the police assault on campus was completely unjustified.

Tensions have however led all universities to end the semester two weeks ahead of schedule. No lessons will take place tomorrow, except via Internet. The government also ordered the shutdown of all schools because of traffic and communications problems, like the metro rail shutdown, caused by street protests and sit-ins.

Something that is on everybody’s lips is the “rescue” of mainland students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who were moved to safety today in Shenzhen by a ship commandeered by police. By contrast, young people note that the same Hong Kong police uses tear gas and bullets against local students. Yesterday's toll rose to 80 wounded.

Here is what the professor had to say about events at the Chinese University in Shatin.

“To my friends, near and far:

My family and I are safe. Many thanks for your concern and prayers. We are heartbroken by what the police has done.

There was no riot, no attack, no disruption, no mass gathering on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong before the police came. (Pro-Beijing media would like people to believe that to justify the police operation.) It was because of the invasion of the police that students and alumni gathered together to defend the campus.

The riot police fired about a thousand rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets. At least eighty were injured. The students used bricks and Molotov cocktail to stop the police from further intrusion. The beautiful campus became a war-zone. In the evening many alumni and other Hongkongers rushed to the campus to help. The situation calmed down late at night. No one knows when the police will attack again.

The president and other top officials of the university arrived at the front to negotiate but were of no avail. They were among those tear-gassed by the police. 

The only reason the police gave for their operation was that someone had thrown objects from a bridge onto a major highway. But there was no evidence that it was done by anyone from the university. On the other hand, at least one video footage from the rear camera of a car shows that riot police threw something down onto the highway. (Even if it were true that a student or staff had committed an illegal act, they only had to send a few police officers to investigate and arrest the suspect, not deploy platoons of riot police entering the campus without a warrant, attacking with tear gas and rubber bullets.)

Some people still see the situation in Hong Kong in terms of a political conflict. No. It is an undeclared war against the entire young generation, who now are regularly called ‘cockroaches’ by police and are targets of police brutality.”

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• police riot
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