Police officers stand guard in front of a street scattered with umbrellas outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University on Tuesday. | REUTERS

National

Japanese student released after arrest in Hong Kong

Kyodo

HONG KONG – A Japanese student was released late Tuesday in Hong Kong after local police arrested him on suspicion of participating in rioting during pro-democracy protests near a university campus, Japan’s Consulate-General in the territory said.

Hikaru Ida, a 21-year-old student at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, was not injured and had no health problems, according to the consulate.

He was arrested Sunday for allegedly taking part in a riot near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus in the Kowloon area, where clashes between protesters and police have been taking place, the consulate said.

Japan’s government had said he was a tourist and had been working to secure his release.

The police continued to surround the campus Wednesday, where protesters remain holed up.

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