Hong Kong protesters shoot arrows, hurl petrol bombs in campus clash

Protesters take cover during clashes with police outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong on 17 November 2019 - Reuters

HONG KONG (Reuters): Protesters shot arrows and lobbed petrol bombs at police on Sunday as fresh violence erupted around a besieged Hong Kong university campus, with activists braced for a possible final police push to clear them after fiery clashes overnight.

Police countered with dyed jets of liquid from water cannon after several protesters were seen firing bows from rooftops at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University amid some of the most dramatic scenes in over five months of protests.

A police media liaison officer was hit in the leg by an arrow, police said in a statement. He remained conscious and was sent to hospital.

Huge fires had lit up the sky at the university in the heart of Kowloon district overnight as protesters hurled petrol bombs, some by catapult, and police fired volleys of tear gas to draw them onto the open podium of the red-brick campus.

After a few quiet hours as protesters slept on lawns and in the university library, police fired fresh rounds of teargas shortly after 10.00 a.m. Activists threw petrol bombs in return, some igniting trees outside the campus.

Hours earlier, squads of Chinese soldiers dressed in shorts and T-shirts, some carrying red plastic buckets or brooms, emerged from their barracks in a rare public appearance to help residents clear debris blocking key roads.

As fresh violence erupted on Sunday, some soldiers in a base close to the university were seen monitoring developments with eye glasses, some dressed in riot gear with canisters on their chests.

Parts of the campus looked more like a fortress with barricades and black-clad protesters manning the ramparts with improvised weapons-like bricks, crates of fire bombs, and bows and arrows at the ready.

The campus is the last of five universities to remain occupied, with activists using it as a base to continue to block the city’s central cross-harbour road tunnel.

The presence of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers on the streets, even to help clean up, could stoke further controversy over Hong Kong’s autonomous status at a time many fear Beijing is tightening its grip on the city.

Hong Kong did not request assistance from the PLA and the military initiated the operation as a “voluntary community activity”, a spokesman for the city’s Government said.

Pro-democracy lawmakers condemned the PLA’s actions in a joint statement, warning that under the city’s Garrison Law the military must not interfere in local affairs unless it was asked by the Government to help with disaster relief or public order, Government-funded broadcaster RTHK reported.

The Asian financial hub has been rocked by months of demonstrations, with many people angry at perceived Communist Party meddling in the former British colony, which was guaranteed its freedoms when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Beijing denies interfering and has blamed the unrest on foreign influences.