HONG KONG • Officials at a Hong Kong university where police and protesters clashed violently a week ago said yesterday they had searched the entire campus and found just one remaining holdout, in a sign that the campus siege may be near an end.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) emerged as the epicentre of the territory's increasingly violent protest movement when clashes broke out on Nov 17 between police and protesters armed with bows and arrows as well as petrol bombs.
The stand-off quickly settled into a tense stalemate during which hundreds fled the campus, leaving a dwindling core of holdouts.
But university officials said their search turned up just one remaining female protester. "We have swept through the whole campus systematically and we found one protester in the student union building," PolyU's vice-president Alexander Wai told reporters.
He said the person was over 18 years old and not a student at the university. He gave no further details on her identity but said the university was trying to convince her to leave.
As the stand-off set in, it became a guessing game as to how many protesters remained since they largely kept themselves hidden in buildings across the campus.
The university sent in teams earlier yesterday to look for holdouts, sealing doors with tape after rooms had been searched, but Professor Wai said officials could not rule out the possibility that other protesters remained hidden.
Asked whether police would soon move in to clear the university, Prof Wai said he knew of no such intention, and police announced no plans to enter the campus, which they have had surrounded throughout the impasse.
Hong Kongers have protested in huge numbers after Chief Executive Carrie Lam's government earlier this year introduced a Bill to allow extraditions to China.
The Bill was eventually withdrawn under public pressure, but touched off increasingly violent protests by demonstrators who fear that Beijing is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city.
A weekend election for community-level councils across Hong Kong saw a landslide win for pro-democracy candidates, raising the pressure on Mrs Lam to respond to demands for reform. She admitted yesterday that the vote revealed "unhappiness" with her administration, but she offered no indication of any coming concessions.
Speaking to the media before the weekly Legislative Council meeting, Mrs Lam thanked residents for voting peacefully and hoped the calm weekend was not just for the elections but a signal that residents want an end to the unrest that has rocked Hong Kong for six months.
"Everybody wants to go back to their normal life and this requires the concerted efforts of every one of us," Mrs Lam said. "So please, please help us to maintain the relative calm and peace... and provide a good basis for Hong Kong to move forward."
Some observers say that Mrs Lam, who came to power in 2017 on a platform to heal social divisions, is out of touch with the population and would not say anything concrete unless Beijing gives her the green light.
"There's no content in her talk, which is usual," said political scientist Ma Ngok at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. "The majority of the people still support the (pro-democracy) movement so it is up to them (Beijing) to respond. If they don't respond with any kind of concessions, I think the protests would go on for some time."
Yesterday, the Hong Kong authorities announced the reopening of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel from 5am today, restoring a major transit link connecting Hong Kong Island to the Kowloon peninsula. The tunnel was shut after protesters occupied the nearby PolyU last week, fighting fiery battles with police.
Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said yesterday that the violence had left the tunnel looking like a "war zone", with fire hydrants and toll booths damaged. Hundreds of government staff and contractors have spent several days clearing the site.
