{"id":105675,"date":"2019-11-14T20:35:37","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T19:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=105675"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:34","slug":"in-the-midst-of-the-hong-kong-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2019\/11\/14\/in-the-midst-of-the-hong-kong-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"In the midst of the Hong Kong protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Protests in Hong Kong have escalated after the police attempted to forcefully enter the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on Tuesday evening. Until the morning of 12 November, the situation at the CUHK campus was seemingly calm. Later that evening, the police attempted to enter the CUHK campus and were met with heavy resistance by the student protesters. Protests in Hong Kong have continued since June but this is the first confrontation this size taking place on the campus of the CUHK.<\/p>\n

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Flames on the CUHK campus in Hong Kong on Tuesday, 12 November.<\/span><\/p>

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The protesters built and maintained barricades at the campus entrances.<\/span><\/p>

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Third-year IBCoM student Wouter witnessed the situation turn into a violent confrontation, as the police fired vast quantities of tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters who responded by throwing Molotov cocktails at the police. Despite the chaos, Wouter himself hasn\u2019t been injured: \u201cI still feel quite safe in my dorm on the campus, and the campus is actually very big, so the point where the confrontation was taking place is actually quite far away from me,\u201d he told EM on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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The students set up a checkpoint at a campus entrance to check the protesters entering the campus, and to stop undercover police from infiltrating the protest. <\/span><\/p>

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The protesters had to improvise barricades from the available material: here a student is using a power tool to cut through a fence to further build up the barricade. <\/span><\/p>

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A student is being treated for burn marks from the tear gas thrown by the police.<\/span><\/p>

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The police used the less-lethal weapons of rubber bullets and tear gas in response to the protesters. The tear gas could still cause severe burns and a hit to the head with a rubber bullet can render a person unconscious, which is why the protesters protected themselves with helmets and gas masks.<\/span><\/p>

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On Wednesday, after events had escalated on campus the previous night, the Chinese University of Hong Kong announced that the rest of the semester would be cancelled. \u201cThe situation is still a bit unclear right now but it is likely that there will at least be no more physical classes for the rest of the semester,\u201d Wouter told EM over the phone. He is not sure what this will mean for the remainder of his exchange in Hong Kong which was supposed to last the whole semester. At the moment, all of the exits from the campus are barricaded but it is possible to get past them as a student. The public transport is in chaos and taxis don\u2019t drive to the campus anymore, which means that it is more difficult to get to the city.<\/p>\n

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The students used a laser to distract the police.<\/span><\/p>

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The protesters used umbrellas to protect themselves from the heavy tear gas used by the police.<\/span><\/p>

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A protester is holding one of the Molotov cocktails that were thrown at the police.<\/span><\/p>

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\n\t\t\u201cJust a couple of days ago everything was pretty normal and now suddenly I\u2019m saying goodbye to my friends who are leaving.\u201d\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n
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The protesters protected their faces with scarves and gas masks.<\/span><\/p>

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Due to the drastic increase in the unrest on campus, some of Wouter\u2019s exchange friends were already packing their bags to leave. \u201cIt is quite a surreal situation, you know,\u201d he ponders. \u201cJust a couple of days ago everything was pretty normal and now suddenly I\u2019m saying goodbye to my friends who are leaving.\u201d Wouter himself has also been offered the option to leave CUHK by the International Office at Erasmus University, but he is still waiting for further information about the fate of his studies at his exchange university.<\/p>\n

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Most of the protesters are students from different universities around Hong Kong. Some of the students chose to camp out on the campus on Tuesday night after the confrontation ended, in fear that the police would return.<\/span><\/p>

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The protesters took turns guarding the front line and sleeping.<\/span><\/p>

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