HONG KONG (AP) – A major tunnel in Hong Kong reopened on Wednesday as a weeklong police siege of a nearby university appeared to be winding down, closing one of the more violent chapters in the city’s anti-government protests.
The Cross-Harbour Tunnel, which links Hong Kong Island to the rest of the city, had been closed for two weeks after protesters blocked the approach with debris and set the toll booths on fire as they fought clashes with police.
A search of the Hong Kong Polytechnic campus found just one woman, in weak condition, and a senior university official said it’s unlikely anyone else remains.
Attention meanwhile shifted to city leader Carrie Lam’s response to a major loss in local elections Sunday – a public rebuke of her tough line on the protests. Lam offered no concessions, saying only that she would accelerate dialogue and identify ways to address societal grievances.
She said the central government in Beijing did not blame her for the election setback, and that while it may have reflected unhappiness with the government’s handling of the unrest, it also showed that many people want an end to the violence.