Published 09:54 IST, November 20th 2019
Hong Kong Protests | Fire blocks off police squadron from entering campus
Hong Kong protests: fire blocks police from entering the campus as the Chinese Government threatens the use of live fire rounds as protests escalate in the City
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A fire blazed in Polytechnic University in Hong Kong as protestors try to prevent police from entering the campus. Chinese government allegedly threatened the use of live rounds for the first time since the start of the protests against protestors holed up inside the university.
Resisting Chinese Rule
As the city and its 7.5 million people continue to vent their fury at eroding freedoms under Chinese rule, the global financial hub that is Hong Kong continues to be rocked with escalating reports of violence and clashes. As protestors at the Polytechnic University (PolyU) were determined to hold their ground as police attempted to enter the campus. On Monday, November 18, at dawn, several reports came in of loud blasts followed by a wall of fire that appeared to be an attempt by the protestors to stall the advance of the police.
China had long warned that it will not tolerate dissent and there are genuine fears that Beijing may send troops over from the maintain if the protests continue. As the protests have continued, the protestors have also begun to use deadlier weapons such as meeting police tear gas with their own volleys of petrol bombs. An officer was also allegedly hit in the leg by an arrow during the protests. The Hong Kong police have declared the campus a "riot" scene and rioting in China is punishable by 10 years in Jail. The police have also threatened to use live rounds if met with deadly weapons.
Helpless
According to Owen Li, a PolyU council member has said that panic has spread across the students that are holed up inside the campus. Activists have been using homemade catapults and sports bows to hold off the police advance and have appealed to the rest of the city for help.
Morning has broken in #HongKong at Poly U and it’s an awful start - at least hundreds of students are inside that campus... which is on fire. Small explosions every minute. The middle of the campus is quite open so hopefully students can take refuge there pic.twitter.com/4wb95bRUh4
— Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) November 18, 2019
The Blossom Everywhere campaign that was started by protesters seems to use a combination of blockades and vandalism to put pressure on the increasingly thinly stretched Hong Kong police. The goal of the protestors appears to be to put pressure on the economy and thereby put pressure on the Chinese Government and Beijing.
09:38 IST, November 20th 2019