Chinese University Of Hong Kong Cancels Remainder Of Semester Amid Campus Riots

Chinese University of Hong Kong Cancels Remainder of Semester Amid Campus Riots

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) announced on Wednesday the early termination of the 2019-2020 academic year's first semester to ensure the safety of students and professors amid the ongoing unrest across the campus

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2019) The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) announced on Wednesday the early termination of the 2019-2020 academic year's first semester to ensure the safety of students and professors amid the ongoing unrest across the campus.

Earlier in the day, Hong Kong police evacuated a group of Chinese students from the CUHK campus, which has been an epicenter for violent protests since Tuesday. The police noted that the situation at the university continued to worsen despite the dialogue between the law enforcement services and the institution's management.

"The safety of our students and colleagues is always the top priority of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.�In view of the escalation of social movements across the territory, the continuous disruption to public transport services, as well as the severe damage done to facilities on campus, The Chinese University of Hong Kong announces the shortening of Term 1 in this academic year 2019-20, and all classes, including undergraduate and postgraduate, conducted on campus are called off with immediate effect until the beginning of Term 2 on 6 January 2020," the university said in a statement.

Since Monday, many streets in Hong Kong have plunged into chaos, with the police deploying tear gas, rubber bullets and batons to disperse the protesters. The demonstrators, in turn, blocked a number of roads, threw Molotov cocktails, stones and bricks. The unrest has caused a major traffic collapse, and some universities were forced to cancel classes. During the Monday clashes, law enforcement officers used firearms in three areas of the city, resulting in one person being injured.

Hong Kong's massive protests began in early June over a controversial extradition bill, which was officially withdrawn in October. If the bill was enacted, it would have allowed the extradition of suspects to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong did not previously have an extradition agreement, including mainland China.

Despite the authorities' move to recall the controversial legislation, people have remained in the streets demanding that the police be held accountable for the alleged excessive use of force during the protests.

Beijing views the situation in Hong Kong as a result of foreign interference in China's domestic affairs and expresses full support for the local authorities' actions.