Hong Kong's prime minister, Carrie Lam, hopes for a peaceful solution to the ongoing siege of Politechnic University by the demonstrators. She had instructed the police to deal with the situation "human". She also called for an end to all violence before Sunday's local elections in the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
Previously, the People's Republic of China had denied the courts in Hong Kong permission to make decisions on the Constitution of the Special Administrative Region.
About 100 students have barricaded themselves in the police-besieged university. Around 600 protesters have previously left the site in the Hung Hom district, with around 200 of them under 18, Lam said. She did not report how many were arrested.
In the video: How a SPIEGEL reporter experienced the day of protests
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Many of the younger demonstrators had been led overnight by a mediating group of middle school directors and celebrity campus personalities. The minors were reportedly able to go home after their personal details were taken by the police. Lam called on the remaining students at the college to surrender.
Hundreds of protesters had built barriers around the complex on Monday and beat back several escape attempts with rubber bullets and tear gas. Some demonstrators have been knocked down by officers and arrested at gunpoint (read a report on the escalation in the former British Crown Colony).
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Hong Kong's universities had become new focal points of the protests last week. As a result, the students were sent early for the semester break.
Since its return to China in 1997, the former British Crown Colony is governed autonomously under Chinese sovereignty under the principle of "one country, two systems". Unlike the people of the Communist People's Republic, the seven million Hong Kong people enjoy many rights, such as freedom of assembly and expression, which they now fear.