Siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University

At around 10 am, some citizens attempted to clear the roadblocks between Austin Road and Chatham Road South, near Rosary Church. While they were carrying obstacles, like bricks, to the pavement, protesters blocked their actions and prevented them from dismantling the roadblocks. During the confrontation, bricks were thrown towards the people clearing the obstacles. Riot police arrived at around 11 am and confronted the protesters and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at them. The protesters retaliated by throwing bricks and petrol bombs.[17][18]

Around 9 pm, police publicly announced that anyone arrested inside Polytechnic University would face the charge of rioting, as would anyone who attempted to go in or help people inside. Police added that anyone inside the campus could peacefully leave via the exit at Y-core. However, HKPF ambushed and arrested everyone who left through Y-core. Among the people arrested were university staff, reporters, social workers, medical service volunteers, doctors and nurses.[19][20] Police claimed that protesters were disguising themselves as medical workers, but Dr Arisina Ma, president of Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association, criticised the police for arresting the medical workers and detaining them for 24 hours and then forcing them to post bail instead of simply checking their professional identification and releasing them.[21] Surgeon Darren Mann, who had witnessed medics being hogtied and who had telephoned both the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières asking them to intervene, criticised the police for treating medical personnel like terrorists. He said: "The arrest of [active medical] personnel is almost unheard of in civilised countries and is incompatible with the compact of humanitarianism".[22]

Polytechnic University authorities released a statement saying that protesters had damaged its laboratories and taken away dangerous chemicals.[23] Subsequently, safety concerns mounted as the Chinese University, Polytechnic University, and City University also reported to police that chemicals – several of which are toxic, corrosive, or flammable, and deadly — had been stolen from their laboratories.[24]

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  Confrontation between protesters and police in Cheong Wan Road near PolyU.
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  Police use blue-dye water cannon to disperse protesters from the road.
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  Protesters threw Molotov cocktail towards police.
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  Protesters walking on the rooftop of the bridge connecting PolyU and nearby districts.
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  Fire in the Cross Harbour Tunnel bridge connecting MTR station and PolyU.

Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong Joseph Ha and a number of pro-democracy legislators requested to meet the HKPF commander, hoping that the crisis could be settled in a peaceful way, but HKPF refused to discuss. Afterwards, pro-democracy legislators held a press conference and declared there was a severe humanitarian crisis happening inside Polytechnic University and demanded Carrie Lam speak up and end the crisis immediately to avoid any serious consequences.[25]

At 9 am, while an RTHK reporter preparing to relieve a colleague inside in accordance with procedures predetermined by the police, went to the indicated place for swapping out, riot police shouted at the journalist and ordered him to put his hands up for checking his press ID and HKID. When the reporter tried to explain that he only wanted to go on duty, riot police refused and insisted that he had to leave by another route. He was escorted at gunpoint by the police as he was leaving. Other reporters of RTHK who passed the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and wanted to take a shot for the area of PolyU, were likewise blocked and requested to leave by the riot police. The police also indicated that all the people inside the PolyU, would be charged with "participating in a riot".[26]

At 11 am, the Hong Kong Police Force fired tear gas towards Queen Elizabeth Hospital which injured some protesters[27] and forced the hospital to suspend specialist services and to use plastic tape to seal its windows and doors.[28]

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  Police using specialised crowd management vehicles such as a water cannon truck.
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  First aiders and medics helping injured protesters
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  Other protesters heading to PolyU to "rescue" trapped protesters
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  Protesters trying to break police cordon in Tsim Sha Tsui to get near the campus
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  Police fires tear gas at protesters trying to reach police cordon

Riot police trapped protesters inside the university as the standoff continued, with students desperate to escape from campus. Some have been confirmed to flee by ziplining below one of the university's bridges,[29] or in some cases, through sewage systems. The protesters reportedly had 'no way to leave'.[30] The number of protesters trapped inside the building was disputed, with police putting their number at around 80–100[31] while protesters claimed the number was around 200.[30]

Throughout the following days, more protesters from PolyU surrendered to police.[32] The siege continued into 23 November, with around 50 protesters remaining.[33] The campus's hygiene quickly deteriorated, and the protesters inside reported being mentally and physically weak.[34]

Amid dwindling numbers of protesters in the university, the police entered the university on 28 November to look for stragglers and to clear the premises of hazardous materials. After a two-day search that failed to find any holdouts that remained, the police lifted the cordon on 29 November.[35] The university remained closed until the campus was deemed safe, as petrol bombs and other weapons continued to be found on campus.[36] More than 4,000 petrol bomb including about 600 tied with portable propane bottles were discovered. More than 1,100 people were arrested in and around PolyU over the course of the siege.[37][38]

On 15 May 2020, police charged 14 people with rioting, while another remained wanted. All of these protesters were originally arrested during a police dispersal operation at the campus on 18 November 2019. In addition to the rioting charges, five of the group were charged with other offences, including possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.[39]

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