Office workers join protests as students barricade themselves at uni

Beijing:  Thousands of office workers came onto the streets of the Central business district at lunchtime on Tuesday, a day after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam declared protesters were the “enemy of the people".

Protesters hold up their hands to represent their five demands as protests continue in Central, Hong Kong, at lunchtime on Tuesday.Credit:AP

Dressed in office shirts and skirts, the professional crowd blocked roads, as younger protesters dressed in black carried umbrellas to be used against tear gas.

On the opposite side of the harbour at Kwun Tong on the Kowloon Peninsula, office workers also marched at lunchtime.

The South China Morning Post reported that a 21-year-old student who had been shot in the torso at close range by a police officer on Monday had been arrested in hospital for unlawful assembly. The man remained in a serious condition after surgery on his liver and kidney.

Students at three universities barricades their campuses against riot police, who fired rubber bullets and tear gas on Tuesday morning.

For a second day, transport was disrupted by protesters who threw objects onto rail tracks and deflated the tyres of 30 buses in Mongkok, where subway stations were closed by police, forcing commuters to walk.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a press conference at the government headquarters in Hong Kong on Tuesday.Credit:AP

Lam said the government would not cancel school classes because she didn't want to give in to "internet users" who had declared a general strike.

"Internet users wanted to create the effect that Hong Kong has stopped running. If the government is stopping our daily activities we would be falling into the trap that the city is indeed paralysed," she told reporters on Tuesday morning.

Yet students held protest signs outside several schools, including Kings College.

The US State Department issued a statement expressing grave concern at the situation in Hong Kong.

“We condemn violence on all sides, extend our sympathies to victims of violence regardless of their political inclinations, and call for all parties – police and protesters – to exercise restraint,” it said.

Riot policemen patrol near the government headquarters in Hong Kong on Tuesday.Credit:AP

A man was hospitalised on Monday after being set alight by an unknown assailant after arguing with a group of protesters. He remains in a critical condition in hospital.

Lam said setting the man on fire was a "totally inhumane act that nobody should condone".

Lam had addressed the media on Monday evening, after 60 people were injured on the day, to warn protesters they would never win. It was noticeably tougher language. She met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the mainland last week and held meetings with senior Chinese officials in Beijing.



But her warning appeared to have no impact on Tuesday, as emotions remained high after the shooting of the unarmed 21-year-old protester.

Amnesty International said Hong Kong police were "out of control", but Lam rejected this.

At City University police fired tear gas and rubber bullets throughout the morning at students on a footbridge after they blocked a road with bricks. Students threw petrol bombs.

At the Chinese University of Hong Kong roads were barricaded by students as riot police arrived at the university gate.

And at Hong Kong University the entry from the subway station was also blocked but lecturers tried to dissuade students from confronting police.

Lam said the government hoped a District Council election on November 24 would go ahead, despite the violence. More than 100 leading business figures and former officials placed advertisements in newspapers on Tuesday urging the government to ensure the election was held.

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