PolyU campus unsealed, scars remain

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which was overrun in an attempt to paralyze one of the city's primary traffic arteries, has been partially reopened after being sealed off for almost two weeks. Police said they seized hundreds of bottles of chemicals and thousands of gasoline bombs on the campus, now free of rioters.

Hong Kong police, who had sealed the campus on the evening of Nov 17, lifted their cordon around the university's Hong Hum campus on Friday afternoon after technicians finished collecting evidence and removing dangerous items left on campus by the radical protesters.

It could take five to six months to finish the cleanup and repair work, said PolyU President Teng Jin-guang, who described the university as the institution hardest hit by the city's political unrest.

Although the campus has reopened, the university said in a statement that it is open only to authorized persons out of safety concerns, and students and staff members have been told not to enter the campus.

The extensive vandalism to campus facilities has severely compromised teaching, learning and research projects, Teng told a news conference after university officials toured the massively damaged campus.

The campus had been utilized since Nov 13 as a fort by radical protesters who wanted to paralyze the nearby Cross-Harbour Tunnel, a main artery linking Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, said Teng, who called the situation an unprecedented challenge for the university.

The police seized about 4,000 gasoline bombs, 600 bottles of corrosive liquids and a great number of other offensive weapons before ending their 12-day siege of the campus, where radicals barricaded themselves after fiery clashes with police.

Earlier the university had also reported missing dangerous chemicals such as inflammables, toxics and corrosives after radicals stormed their laboratories.

Nearly 46 of over 1,100 protesters arrested, hospitalized or put on record when leaving the campus were PolyU students, according to the university.

Police appeal

After a huge number of gasoline bombs were thrown and arrows shot in recent weeks, Hong Kong has finally been brought back to peace, police said, calling it a blessing that they hope everyone would cherish.

The hard-earned tranquillity that Hong Kong has experienced in recent days has been felt by many in the embattled city to be something of a luxury, according to Kwok Ka-chuen, chief superintendent of the Police Public Relations Branch.

Kwok hoped that the peaceful settlement of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University occupation will serve as a turning point for the city, which had already been battered by violence and vandalism for six months.

The police strongly condemned the rioters for using the university for what they described as a weapons factory. Police officials said they will investigate the case impartially and bring all offenders to justice.

"A university is supposed to be a breeding ground for talent, but it was turned into a battlefield by criminals and rioters over the past few weeks," Kwok said.

"We are thankful to see the PolyU episode coming to its final chapter," said Kwok, who called for support for police efforts to restore Hong Kong to safety and order.

Lesson learned

The PolyU incident taught everyone a lesson, that disagreements can actually be settled without shedding blood, he said. Communicating and listening to each other works much better than resorting to violence, added Kwok, who expressed the belief that Hong Kong can resolve its crisis in a rational manner.

Different universities in Hong Kong have been taken over and used as manufacturing bases for gasoline bombs, and dangerous chemicals have been stolen from laboratories, and major transportation arteries have been blocked or severely restricted.

Instead of a direct confrontation, police adopted a more defensive strategy at PolyU as they cordoned off the whole area next to the tunnel.

As protesters on the campus came out one by one to surrender, the tension finally started to fade away, although the campus was left in ruins as no single building or even floor of a building was spared from the damage.