Stance against lawless acts urged

November 15, 2019

Police Public Relations Branch Chief Superintendent Tse Chun-chung:
Today is the fourth day the Chinese University of Hong Kong has been taken hostage as students and rioters continue to wreak havoc on the campus in Sha Tin.

The school has become a breeding ground for criminals and rioters. Very alarmingly, the buildup of arms and weapons in the CUHK shows no sign of stopping.    
                                                     
Masked rioters have taken control of the campus and spent days and nights gathering objects for barricades, making petrol bombs and even practising shooting arrows. 

We have seen records of more and more self-made petrol bombs, flammable ingredients, and offensive weapons piling up in makeshift arsenals.  

Masked rioters set fires and threw petrol bombs at school facilities like swimming pools. They even built roadblocks in the vicinity of the campus to restrict entry and limit access to the media and even emergency services. 

The reckless road blockages have caused great inconvenience to patients who have medical needs and are making their way to hospitals nearby.

We have also seen rioters smoking in a room of petrol bombs and flammable ingredients. The risk of fire and even an explosion would mean heavy casualties.

These rioters are paving the way to a man-made disaster. We urge the school management to shoulder their responsibility and make a clear stance against such lawless behaviour and make a clean break with rioters.

Police today said universities have become a breeding ground for criminals and rioters, and urged the school management to make a clear stance against lawless behaviours.

Police Public Relations Branch Chief Superintendent Tse Chun-chung made the appeal at a press conference this afternoon.

He said today is the fourth day the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has been taken hostage as students and rioters continue to wreak havoc on the campus in Sha Tin.

“The school has become a breeding ground for criminals and rioters. Very alarmingly, the buildup of arms and weapons in CUHK shows no sign of stopping.

“Masked rioters have taken control of the campus and spent days and nights gathering objects for barricades, making petrol bombs and even practising shooting arrows.”

Mr Tse noted masked rioters set fires and threw petrol bombs at school facilities like swimming pools, adding they also built roadblocks in the vicinity of the campus to restrict entry and limit access to the media and even emergency services.

“We have also seen rioters smoking in a room of petrol bombs and flammable ingredients.

“The risk of fire and even an explosion will mean heavy casualties. These rioters are paving the way to a man-made disaster.”

Near Baptist University, reckless road blockages caused great inconvenience to patients needing to go to a hospital nearby, Mr Tse added.

“We urge the school management to shoulder their responsibility and make a clear stance against such lawless behaviour and make a clean break with rioters.”