Police start ‘national security’ probe of campus protest

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) – scene of violent battles between student protesters and police a year ago this month – called the police to campus on Thursday over what it called an “unauthorised demonstration and procession” by graduating students.

On 19 November dozens of graduating students wearing black graduation gowns and face masks marched to CUHK’s mall, where the original graduation ceremonies had been due to take place in-person on 19-20 November before being moved online. They chanted anti-government slogans and held up banners and flags.

The graduation rally turned into a commemoration of the events on campus last year. “Happy Graduation CU rioters”, a banner read. The banner held by the lead marchers read: “This revolution was ultimately won by no one, but please stay with us to witness it.”

Students at both CUHK and Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) – which saw prolonged violence during the siege that lasted two weeks in November 2019, including the use of Molotov cocktails and flaming arrows by students, with police responding with water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets – said university authorities had become less tolerant of student activities in the run up to the anniversary of the events.

There were also signs with the “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” slogan, and others on Hong Kong independence – these have been deemed illegal under Hong Kong’s draconian national security law, in place since July. The most serious breaches of the new law can lead to life in prison.

The police said its national security department would investigate the protest, saying it would attach high importance to the case and emphasising that the university had reported incidents of criminal damage and possible breaches of the national security law.

The move by CUHK comes after Hong Kong’s secretary for education, Kevin Yeung, in a local media interview published on 9 November, called on the authorities at all of Hong Kong’s universities to “better supervise” student activities on campus and indicated that some “new arrangements and requirements” might be needed in future at universities, without providing details.

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau said on Thursday that it supported the university decision to call the police.

Police alerted

The university said in a statement issued on Thursday that it had called the police to the campus. It had earlier admitted it alerted the police even before the demonstration took place, citing the university’s concern “over health issues” after the rally call was posted online.

“CUHK reiterates that the [graduation] Congregation is a solemn occasion, and it is definitely not an occasion for political expression and the dissemination of political messages.

“The university expresses deep regret over and condemns all irresponsible and disrespectful acts towards graduates and their family members, and those acts that may violate national security.”

Students said university security guards broadcasted through the loudspeaker system that the group was violating social distancing rules and demanded they disperse. Students said the security officials used video cameras to film the protest.

In its statement the university said more than a hundred had “participated in a demonstration and procession without authorisation, in potential violation of the [COVID-19] gathering restriction order and the Public Security Ordinance”.

“Since the demonstration and procession were initiated on social platforms, the university did not receive any application for approval and was not able to identify the organisers,” it said.

The statement claimed demonstrators had stopped on the main campus thoroughfares “seriously blocking campus traffic. Some people used spray paint and graffiti along the way and hung slogans on campus, destroying school property and endangering the safety of passengers.”

Less tolerant of student activities

“Students’ freedom to express their views and hold activities on campus have been largely tightened recently, which I believe is related to the national security law as well as last year’s protests,” said Owen Au, chairman of the CUHK student union provisional executive committee, stressing that the march was not organised by the union.

Pointing to the university’s decision to call police to the CUHK campus, he was quoted by the South China Morning Post newspaper as saying: “There is a big difference in the university’s stance, which has been more stringent compared with last year.”

Students organising film showings and exhibitions on the 2019 sieges of CUHK and PolyU said they had been warned by their respective universities.

CUHK objected to a poster posted online by student groups advertising an exhibition of the 2019 events, and demanded students immediately amend or remove it, warning that some of the poster’s content might be illegal.

The slogan “Free Hong Kong revolution now”, a rallying cry in 2019, featured on the poster, though students said the slogan was partially obscured.

In a statement on 11 November, the university said: “We are extremely regretful that the exhibition’s host has presented a biased portrayal of the [2019] incident,” adding that the management “had the right to prohibit any improper events from being held on campus”.

It urged students “not to challenge the law”, and said the university would follow up on any acts damaging to the university’s reputation.

But the student union of Chinese University’s New Asia College, one of the event’s organisers, in a Facebook post accused the university of making unreasonable demands and said that the poster’s protest scenes were taken from major news media and merely depicted the “historical truth”.

Film screening banned

Students at both CUHK and PolyU said the university authorities had tightened campus restrictions since last year.

At PolyU the university management earlier this week banned the screening on campus of two documentary films about the November 2019 siege. The PolyU student union said the film showings would be moved off campus to private venues that complied with social distancing rules.

Joe Choi, a PolyU union member, said that the university administration had said in emails to the union that screening the films was an “abuse”.

“This is obviously based on political suppression, but we have a responsibility to hold these screenings because they are documentaries or histories of the siege of PolyU a year ago. We cannot let the government or the schools try to wipe out our history,” Choi told local radio.

The university also objected to union plans for a front-page ad in the anti-government newspaper Apple Daily to commemorate the anniversary of the 2019 two-week campus siege, Choi said.

According to the email received from the university authorities, the wording in the ad “could infringe the national security law”, but Choi said the university did not indicate which sentences or statements were an infringement of the law.

Choi said the ad had been amended to comply with the law after consulting lawyers. “Their accusation that the ad is an unlawful activity is an ungrounded accusation,” he said.

PolyU has restricted access to the campus this month, limiting entry to staff, faculty and students. Visitors will need special approval, it said.