- Radicals refuse to surrender despite ongoing police siege of campus and evacuation of hundreds of their peers
- Officers have surrounded the Hung Hom campus for more than 36 hours in bitter stalemate
The marathon stand-off between police and radical protesters at a university in Hong Kong has spilled into Tuesday, with about 100 still barricaded inside the campus.
Diehard activists stood guard at the entrance of Polytechnic University in Hung Hom from about 4am, after fiery clashes with riot police over the past 24 hours had turned the education site into a battlefield.
Hundreds of people were evacuated overnight from inside PolyU after politicians and education figures cut deals with police.
The university's president Professor Teng Jin-guang returned to inspect the campus on Tuesday morning, which is strewn with unused petrol bombs, bottles of highly flammable gas and discarded protective equipment.
Police were still surrounding the campus, early on Tuesday, as radicals retreated inside buildings on the red-bricked site, including the gymnasium. Some are sleeping next to unlit firebombs.
More than 200 students or protesters aged below 18 had left the campus overnight. Some 100 adults also left and were arrested. Earlier, some were seen escaping by abseiling off a footbridge to getaway vehicles below.
Areas bordering the campus, especially the main entrance in Cheong Wan Road, became a battleground between radicals and police on Monday.
Officers repeatedly fired rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas, while a water cannon truck sprayed blue dye into the campus.
The university has been occupied for about a week by hard-core elements of the anti-government movement, who have cut off major road links such as the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom, which connects Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
A police armoured vehicle went up in flames on Sunday from a barrage of petrol bombs thrown by radicals.
Police and radicals clash at siege of university campus
It followed a similar occupation of campus at Chinese University of Hong Kong on Monday last week.
Overnight into the early hours of Tuesday at PolyU, various figures from politics and education reached agreements with police to safely remove young protesters and volunteers inside the campus.
They include PolyU council chairman Lam Tai-fai, pro-government politicians Michael Tien Puk-sun and Jasper Tsang, as well as education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen.
While minors were let go after police noted down their information, adults were immediately arrested.
Referring to the minors, legal scholar Eric Cheung Tat-Ming said: "Police kept their promise, only noting down their HKID (Hong Kong Identity Card number), taking photos and letting them go."
He said he is relieved that students were safe and bloodshed had been avoided.
Although police had repeatedly declared those on the campus were involved in rioting, Cheung said mere presence within the PolyU campus did not amount to criminal conduct.
"Unless police have evidence, such as that someone has thrown a petrol bomb, I don't think the authority can prove the person is guilty beyond reasonable doubt," he added.
On whether police could still charge those present of unlawful assembly, Cheung said those who were peaceful would be exempt.
Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung vowed to be the last to leave PolyU.
Thousands hit Hong Kong streets in bid to end police campus siege
"I guess the chance of them charging me for rioting is not small," Hui said. "I expect them to arrest me first, but I'm convinced they wouldn't be able to get a conviction."
Hui said it was absurd that police should put the campus in complete lockdown and vow to arrest those inside for rioting.
"To arrest everyone on site (for rioting), this is clearly making wanton arrests," he said.
The lawmaker said authorities might be trying to send a message to deter protesters from joining future actions.
Two black-clad protesters were among the dozens of diehards who remained on campus on Tuesday morning, despite not being PolyU students.
An 18-year-old said he was also involved in the bid to keep police out of Chinese University last week.
"I thought the PolyU situation would be resolved in two days but things didn't go as expected," he said, adding he knew the risks of being arrested.
Another in his 20s said he was pained by the arrests of protesters outside PolyU, who tried to rescue those trapped inside. He also said he had no plan surrender.
"Surrender you go to jail, don't surrender you still go to jail, so I would rather not," he said.
Polytechnic University war zone: how radicals got boxed in by police
Young people, who had dressed out of the typical protest attire of black, were also heard arguing on the phone and ruling out any suggestion of surrendering.
Some, however, did leave as a group or alongside school principals who had arrived on scene with Ip.
Train services remained suspended between Hung Hom and Austin station on the West Rail Line, and between Hung Hom and Mong Kok East station on the East Rail Line.
The MTR stations of Hung Hom, Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Whampoa and University were also closed.
Hong Kong hospital guards against tear gas as clashes break out nearby
Roads surrounding PolyU campus " such as Chatham Road, Cheong Wan Road and Hong Chong Road and Gascoigne Road " were still blocked, as of Tuesday morning.
The aftermath of intense overnight clashes between radicals and police in Kowloon left locals struggling with the effects of tear gas still hanging in the air on Tuesday morning.
Most vehicles could not pass through the junction of Nathan Road and Jordan Road in Jordan with roadblocks still in place for the morning commute.
At least three construction vehicles started clearing bricks strewn across the road at about 7.30am.
Passers-by in Nathan Road wore masks and used their hands to cover their faces as they struggled with the after-effects of the chemical irritant fired by police to disperse radical protesters just hours earlier.
Missing chemicals from universities spark fears over public safety
A woman surnamed Ng, who has a broken leg and poliomyelitis and needed to carry a walking stick, said she felt it was her responsibility to go to work.
The secondary school administrator in Kowloon City, who lives in Yai Ma Tei, was in the area looking for a taxi.
"Schools are still open (despite suspension of classes), what if some kids still headed to school?" Ng said, who did not reveal her political views but called for the government to take steps towards resolving the protest crisis.
There was also the lingering smell of tear gas at the intersection of Mody Road and Science Museum Road, in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Nearby, a man in his 40s, who worked in the hotel industry and gave his surname Chung, said there had to be a resolution.
"I don't really support either side, but I don't think it needs to be this way. I hope the situation ends soon, it can't go on like this for much longer," Chung said.
Areas around tourist district TST were difficult to access.
Those roads worst affected for the morning rush hour were Chatham Road South near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Nathan Road between Argyle Street and Salisbury Road, Hong Chong Road and East Kowloon Way.
Additional reporting by Tony Cheung, Chan Ho-him and Martin Choi
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