Hong Kong Police Escalate Aggression in Violent Clashes at University Campus

Chinese Soldiers Make First Appearance Amid Hong Kong Protests, Clear Debris From Street

Chinese state media outlets have portrayed the ongoing protests as “riots,” and have repeatedly threatened that the PLA could be sent in to crush the movement. Late afternoon, locals were cleaning up bricks and barricades on a road near Hong Kong Baptist University in Kowloon Tong, when around 50 PLA soldiers from the nearby barrack arrived with buckets and brooms to clear the remaining debris, according to Hong Kong Free Press. A cameraperson, who accompanied the soldiers, filmed the exercise, the outlet reported. Chinese troops have appeared on Hong Kong streets only once since the 1997 handover to help clear up after a typhoon in 2018. Pro-democracy lawmakers have condemned the incident, saying the PLA troops’ actions could have violated the city’s laws restricting Chinese military involvement in Hong Kong. In a…

A university in Hong Kong saw some of the worst violence since pro-democracy protests began, as protesters faced off with police, shooting arrows and hurling petrol bombs as the latter fired volleys of tear gas and deployed water cannons.

Clashes at the embattled Polytechnic University on Nov. 17 also saw police deploy sonic devices for the first time.

The Long Range Acoustic Device, intended to send warnings over long distances, was fixed atop an armored truck that arrived at the university at around 2:42 p.m. It emitted a loud, shrill sound that lasted for about three seconds.

In a press release, the police said that the device was only a broadcasting system and not a weapon, saying that it would not “generate ultra-low frequency which will cause dizziness, nausea or loss of sense of direction,” as some local media had reported. They also warned the public not to “assist rioters in any way,” or risk committing the offense of “Taking Part in a Riot,” which is punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Since Saturday, protesters have occupied the university, using it as a base to continue to block the city’s central cross-harbor road tunnel, in an effort to pressure the Hong Kong government into fulfilling their demands.

Police began their push to clear the protesters on Sunday morning, firing tear gas.

From around 2 p.m., police began firing tear gas and water cannons continuously for about three hours.

Arrows from protesters had hit a police’s media liaison officer in the late afternoon.

By around 9:30 p.m., police had besieged the campus and blocked off exits, warning in an announcement that all protesters must leave by 10 p.m. via a specified exit at the north of the campus, called Block Y.

Epoch Times reporters witnessed police intercepting reporters who wished to leave, saying they needed to verify their identity and ensure that they didn’t participate in protest activities.

Around midnight, police superintendent Louis Lau Siu-pong warned in a video published on the police force’s official Facebook page that if protesters continue to commit “dangerous acts, we are left with no choice but to use the minimal force required, including the use of live rounds to fight back.”

Around the same time, the Hong Kong Journalist Association released a statement, stating that all journalists leaving the university will be arrested “unless they can provide valid press verification documents”—citing a phone call with the police.

The association also said reporters were injured while covering the clashes, including one who suffered a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage after being hit with water from the water cannons.

Photos circulated online from the scene, showing a dozen medics tied up on the ground, reportedly arrested by police.

At around 2 a.m. Monday morning, police stopped pro-democracy lawmakers who arrived at the scene from taking away protesters who were willing to leave campus.

Earlier in the evening, a student who gave his name as T told The Epoch Times that he showed up to campus in order to fight for Hong Kong’s future.

“We do not have any choice, we did everything peacefully to express our demands, but our government never listened,” he said, adding that he hoped the government could reflect on what they have done to Hongkongers.

On Saturday, China’s People’s Liberation Army soldiers from the local barracks appeared for the first time on Hong Kong streets to clear away road blockades, triggering fears that a military intervention by the Chinese regime could be imminent.

T recalled the 1989 crackdown at Tiananmen Square of student protesters, but said he was not afraid if such a violent suppression should occur in Hong Kong. “We all know what we are doing, we know what we are doing is right,” he said. “We are not judged by the government. We are judged by history.”

Around 21,411 students, alumni, and staff from Polytechnic University have signed a joint statement appealing to the police to stop the use of force around the campus and allow all who were inside to leave safely.

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) on Nov. 17 called on the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to “immediately deescalate the situation and exercise restraint” at the university.

“More violence & bloodshed will only make things worse,” he said in a tweet.

The Hong Kong bureau of The Epoch Times contributed to the report.

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Kavanaugh Cites Litany of Friends as Source of Strength During ‘Ugly’ Confirmation Process

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh says that he never felt alone during the tense confirmation battle last year, citing his faith and slew of friends as sources of strength during the process. On the cusp of being confirmed, Kavanaugh’s nomination was derailed by multiple women accusing him of sexually assaulting them while he was in high school or college. Several accusers later recanted their allegations and the others lacked corroboration. Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed by a narrow vote in October 2018. In his first public speech since becoming a justice, Kavanaugh told a crowd at Union Station in Washington: “I never felt alone.” “I signed up for what I knew would be an ugly process—maybe not that ugly—but my friends did not,” he said on Thursday, reported USA Today. “And…