Hong Kong students boycott classes as China warns 'the end is coming'

HONG KONG: Thousands of black-clad students rallied in central Hong Kong on Monday at the start of a two-week university boycott, piling pressure on the city's leaders to resolve months of increasingly violent anti-government protests that show no sign of easing. Students have been the backbone of opposition to government plans to allow extraditions to China, a movement that has morphed into wider protests against the Beijing-backed territory's unelected leadership.
Hundreds have been arrested in violent clashes with police, and an increasingly shrill Beijing has labelled protesters "terrorists", with an editorial by China's state news agency on Sunday warning "the end is coming". Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Monday that the protests had "gone beyond the scope of freedom of assembly and demonstration". "They have evolved into extreme acts of violence, seriously challenging the legal system and social order of Hong Kong," he told a press conference.
On Monday, as universities reopened after the summer break, thousands of students skipped classes and gathered instead in central Hong Kong. "I don't think we will miss anything. This is also a form of learning," a 19-year-old student named Tommy said.
Tension remained high, with several brief skirmishes around the territory after night fell.