UBC urges exchange students to leave Hong Kong as violent protests continue

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is urging its exchange students studying in Hong Kong to return to Canada as violent protests in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory begin to take over local campuses.

UBC’s vice-provost international Murali Chandrashekaran said in a statement Friday that 32 of the school’s students are currently attending four Hong Kong universities, some of which have been taken over by protesters this week.

“Given the ongoing tensions in Hong Kong, the university has reached out to all UBC students studying in Hong Kong to discuss their options and ensure they feel safe and supported should they decide to leave,” he said.

“Our recommendation to them is that they leave.”

Chandrashekaran said UBC has reached out to Chinese University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Hong Kong University to confirm measures are in place to ensure the safety of UBC students studying there.

If students wish to leave, UBC says the school will connect them with academic and student services and help with travel arrangements as needed.

Those who choose to stay are urged to follow directives from their host universities and monitor International SOS for updates and safety information.

2:42 Hong Kong protests: Students fortify universities to gear up for new battle amid escalating violence

A majority of protesters who took over the Chinese University of Hong Kong on Tuesday began to leave Friday after demanding that the government commit to going ahead with local elections later this month.

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On Tuesday, students hurled more than 400 firebombs at police before barricading themselves inside the main campus building.

A Hong Kong police spokesperson on Wednesday said the violence at Chinese University is spreading to other campuses “like a cancer cell,” mentioning specifically Hong Kong University and Baptist University.

In unusually harsh language, he said students were turning university campuses into “weapons factories” and a “hotbed” of crime.

Anti-China students and activists have since barricaded at least four other campuses this week, stockpiling petrol bombs, catapults, bows and arrows, and other weapons.

Hong Kong universities, in a joint statement, said they regretted the fact that “the government response had so far not been effective.”

The violence prompted mainland Chinese students to flee Hong Kong, as classes were suspended at primary and secondary schools.

3:21 Chinese, foreign students fleeing Hong Kong universities as campuses become battlegrounds

District council elections scheduled for Nov. 24 are seen as a barometer of public sentiment in Hong Kong, which has been riven by anti-government protests for more than five months.

Pro-democracy activists say the government may use the escalating violence as a reason to cancel the elections.

Police have arrested more than 3,500 people since the movement began in June over a now-withdrawn extradition bill.

Activists saw the bill as another sign of an erosion in Hong Kong’s autonomy and civic freedoms, which China promised would be maintained for 50 years under a “one nation, two systems” principle when the former British colony returned to Chinese control in 1997.

Pro-China protesters plan to rally in Hong Kong on Saturday to denounce the increasingly violent anti-government unrest and support the police who have become a prime target of attack.

—With files from The Associated Press and Reuters