Hong Kong university head condemns students’ call for independence and a physical border to split city from mainland China

• University of Science and Technology head Wei Shyy warns action will be taken after Facebook post over the weekend
• ‘Progressust’ group also wants mainland Chinese in Hong Kong ‘repatriated’ and Chinese businesses operating in city to lose their licences

A student group's call for independence has been condemned by the head of a Hong Kong university, who said it challenged the "very basic principles of the city's existence", and warned there would be repercussions.

In a letter to students and teachers late on Monday, Professor Wei Shyy, head of the University of Science and Technology, said the "Progressust" group had posted what he called "hatred, and an absurd message".

On Sunday night, the group had suggested in a Facebook post that October 1, China's national day, should be the day when Hong Kong officially "cuts its ties" with the mainland.

"HKUST condemns such messages and we can't stay idle while these individuals staged such an act without revealing their identities," Shyy wrote, adding the university had alerted the student union.

He did not elaborate on what action the school would take.

The group also called for the "repatriation" of mainlanders in Hong Kong, the revoking of licences of Chinese enterprises operating in the city, and building a physical border between the city and the mainland.

Progressust was established in 2012, drawing from students and graduates who had previously taken part in protests at the school.

The group's stance has been strongly criticised by hundreds of online users across the border, who posted angry messages asking if its members would dare take concrete action to achieve their aims, or would cut up their Hong Kong passports.

Progressust's demands are more extreme than those of the anti-government protesters, who have been marching for 12 weeks in a display of civil unrest that began as opposition to the much-maligned extradition bill.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has consistently rejected the five main demands of protesters, and did so again in two closed-door meetings on Saturday and Monday.

The demands include a complete withdrawal of the now-abandoned legislation, and an independent inquiry into alleged police abuse of power.

Student leaders from local universities have called for a major class boycott in September, when the new school term begins, and there have been calls for another citywide strike on the same day.

Shyy, who has previously called for a dialogue between the government and protesters, also expressed grave concern over the increasingly violent nature of the protests, and urged all sides to act responsibly.

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