Hong Kong police say protesters out of control, deny curfew

HONG KONG — Hong Kong police warned protesters Thursday that they were moving “one step closer to terrorism” by sinking the city into chaos, as riot squads skirmished with militant students at major universities.

China’s leader said ending the violence and restoring order are Hong Kong’s most pressing task, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

President Xi Jinping, who is attending the BRICS summit in Brazil, said his government would continue to firmly support Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, the police and the courts in “severely punishing the violent criminals.”

Police spokesman Tse Chun-chung denied his department had been asked to enforce a possible curfew this weekend. A Chinese state media outlet later deleted its tweet saying authorities were considering a weekend curfew.

The Hong Kong government, in a short statement, also called the curfew rumors “totally unfounded.”

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

“Their acts are another step closer to terrorism,” Tse said, warning of a major disaster if gasoline bombs stored on campuses were to catch fire.

He said violence that broke out this week at Chinese University of Hong Kong is spreading to other campuses “like a cancer cell,” mentioning specifically Hong Kong University and Baptist University.

“It’s time to wake up. No society can tolerate this much senseless violence,” he said.

With no end to the protests in sight, the beleaguered police force is appointing a group of prison guards as special constables.

“The ongoing riots over the past few months, with their massive scale, simultaneous occurrence in various districts and grave severity of violence, make it necessary to strengthen the support for the police’s frontline officers,” a statement from the police spokesman’s office said.

Residents endured a fourth day of traffic snarls and mass transit disruptions as protesters closed some main roads and rail networks.

Police said protesters shot several arrows at them near Hong Kong Polytechnic University. No officers were injured, and six arrows were seized at the scene, police said.