Hong Kong siege ends, tunnel reopens
November 27, 2019 — 3.23pm
Hong Kong: A major tunnel in Hong Kong has reopened and the police siege of a nearby university appeared to be finished, closing one of the more violent chapters of the city's anti-government protests.
The Cross-Harbour Tunnel, which links Hong Kong Island to the rest of the city, had been closed for two weeks after protesters blocked the approach with tonnes of debris and set the toll booths on fire.
Vehicles move through the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, which has reopened, in Hong Kong. Credit:AP
A search of the Hong Kong Polytechnic campus the previous day found just one woman, in weak condition, and a senior university official said it was unlikely anyone else remained.
The red-brick university was turned into a battleground in mid-November when nearly a thousand protesters barricaded themselves inside and clashed with riot police in a hail of petrol bombs, water cannon and tear gas.
Police later formed a security cordon around the campus to trap those inside, eventually making hundreds of arrests.
On Wednesday morning, as Chinese soldiers went through drills nearby, Polytechnic officials said a few people might still be hiding in the urban campus, trying to avoid arrest. Police have cordoned off the area to try to prevent anyone from escaping.
Protesters' belongings left behind at the sport complex at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Searches on Wednesday have failed to find any protesters. Credit:Getty Images
University vice-president Alexander Wai, who led a search of the campus by seven teams, said he could not rule out that some people remained, but "the possibility is not very high".
Attention in Hong Kong has shifted to city leader Carrie Lam's response to a major loss in local elections on Sunday, with the results seen as a public rebuke of her tough line on the protests.
The pro-democracy bloc won control of 17 out of 18 district councils in the election, which was seen as a barometer of public support for more than five months of pro-democracy protests.
Lam offered no concessions to anti-government protesters during a press conference on Tuesday saying only that she would accelerate dialogue and identify ways to address societal grievances.
Her refusal to compromise could spark more unrest at a time when the semi- autonomous Chinese territory has plunged into its first recession in a decade.
The government hoped to take advantage of the current lull in violence to accelerate public dialogue and set up an independent review committee to find solutions to deep-seated societal issues, Lam said.
Beijing is treading cautiously partly to avoid jeopardising trade talks with the United States, as President Donald Trump considers signing US legislation that could derail Hong Kong's special trade status and sanction Hong Kong and China officials found to violate human rights.