Student protesters who were holed up at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University still remain holed-up even as the situation gets dire and food supply dwindles. The police have said they will arrest anyone who tries to leave.
Around 100 protesters remain barricaded inside Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) surrounded by riot squads who have been besieging them for three days.
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The three-day PolyU occupation is the most serious and sustained episode yet. More than 200 people have been injured in just two days of clashes.
About a dozen protesters tried to flee through the university's sewerage system by lowering themselves into a tunnel wearing gas masks and plastic sheets to cover their bodies. However, they weren't successful and had to retreat onto the campus.
The university is the last of five that protesters occupied to use as bases from which to disrupt the city. The protesters also blocked the central cross-harbour tunnel and main roads and forcing the closure of businesses including shopping centres.
Demonstrators, who took to the streets in their hundreds of thousands in June over a now-shelved extradition bill are demanding the right to elect their leaders and an inquiry into police's brutal handling of the protesters.
In the last 10 days, protest tactics morphed into a "Blossom Everywhere" strategy of disruptive vandalism that has brought much of the transport network to a standstill and forced schools to shut down.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she hoped a standoff between police and a hold-out group of anti-government protesters at a university could be resolved and she had told the police to handle it humanely.
Even as Lam said her government was very much on the "reactive side" in dealing with the protests, she did not rule out more violence. "If the protesters are coming out in a peaceful manner … then there is no situation when that sort of violence would happen," she said.
Protesters are fearing even more bloodshed with no resolution in sight to a standoff that has seen some of the most intense violence since Hong Kong was handed over by the British to Chinese rule in 1997.
It is a gravest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
China appoints new police chief in Hong Kong
China has appointed Tang Ping-keung, also known as Chris Tang, as the new police chief of Hong Kong, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The appointment comes as police in the Asian financial hub clash with protesters in pro-democracy demonstrations that have been going on for five months now.
The new chief, Chris Tang Ping-keung said, “We have to maintain law and order in Hong Kong and there is a massive scale of breaking of the law in Hong Kong and there is a certain sector of the community that also condones those illegal activities."
Hong Kong's police force was long hailed for its professionalism and incorruptibility, while Hong Kong enjoyed a reputation as one of the safest cities in the world.
The image, however, has suffered immensely during the months of unrest. The police have been facing allegations like the use of excessive violence to curb the protests, harassment of citizens and connection to groups involved in organised crime.
The US, in the meantime, expressed its grave concern by the deepening political unrest and violence in Hong Kong. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged the city's government to address public concerns and China to honour its promises of liberties.
Pompeo's remarks came amid a dramatic escalation in unrest, with Hong Kong police threatening to fire live bullets if demonstrators did not stop using weapons in the latest anti-government protests.
"The United States is gravely concerned by the deepening political unrest and violence in Hong Kong, including the standoff between protesters and police at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and other campuses," Pompeo told reporters at a news conference here on Monday.
The United States has repeatedly called for restraint from all parties in Hong Kong.
