University under siege: a dangerous new phase for the Hong Kong protests

The fourth instalment in a series of Conversation article the 2019 Hong Kong protest movement.

Citation:

Tattersall,  A. (2019) University under siege: a dangerous new phase for the Hong Kong protests. Conversation, Nov 19..

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Overview

While thousands of Hong Kongers have protested “like water” for the past six months – flowing through the city with seemingly spontaneous movements – the past week has seen a shift in strategy. Last week, students escalated their actions yet again by occupying most of Hong Kong’s universities.

The last remaining occupation at Polytechnic University remains under siege by the police force. Police say surrender is the only option for the students and have threatened to use live ammunition if they are attacked.

Why universities are sanctified spaces

The siege comes off the back of months of ratcheting police violence in response to the protests, including the use of live rounds, water cannons and nearly 6,000 canisters of tear gas.

The protesters, meanwhile, have remained mobile and flexible, which has allowed them to keep going for so long. This adherence to being “like water” has helped overcome the limitations that demonstrators faced in previous protests.

The government, for example, was able to wait out the 79-day Umbrella Movement in 2014, banking that protesters would eventually find the daily grind of occupying city streets too difficult.

The Tiananmen Square occupation in 1989, likewise, was vulnerable to a Chinese military crackdown because the protesters were congregated in a central place.