Hong Kong is now in its eighth week of street protests, which began with opposition to a controversial extradition bill but have spiralled into wider opposition to the government and Beijing. As the situation grows yet more tense, the impact is also being felt overseas, particularly among the hundreds of thousands of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong students studying in Australia.
At the University of Queensland, the tensions spilled over into violent clashes last week, when a group staging a support rally for the Hong Kong demonstrators were confronted by pro-Beijing protesters. Hundreds of protesters faced off against each other, yelling insults and abuse as the Chinese national anthem was blasted from a speaker. Videos posted online showed pro-China supporters ripping posters from the hands of opponents, prompting shoving and physical confrontations. Security officials quickly arrived to separate the groups but tensions remained high, said Nilsson Jones, a student journalist who filmed some of the clashes.
