Police Evacuate Mainland CUHK Students By Boat

A group of mainland students at Chinese University fled the campus in Sha Tin by police boat on Wednesday, the force said, after they had expressed concerns for their safety.

The police confirmed in a post on social media that they had deployed marine officers to help the group of mainland students leave the university, which had been the scene of violent clashes for hours between police and students on Tuesday.

The mainlanders couldn't leave by road because of obstructions put up by "rioters", the force said, and therefore a police boat was sent out to help them evacuate.

The police didn't say how many mainland students felt the need to flee to safety.

After they were back on dry land, the students used their own transport to travel onwards, the force said.

The post attracted more than five thousand emojis from online users, with around 3,000 giving a thumbs up to the police operation, while there were about two thousand angry faces.

While some people expressed support for the police helping the group leave, others said they wondered why the police were only concerned about mainland students, and not Hongkongers.