Chinese police stormed a campus protest Tuesday inside Nanjing Normal University, where students were rising up against a plan to merge the school with a vocational college in fear that it would devalue their degrees.
Police said students held the dean hostage for over 30 hours, beginning Sunday.
Some students “shouted verbal abuse and blocked law enforcement,” Danyang city police said in a statement.
The Jiangsu education authorities suspended the merger plans, which affected five local universities, late Monday evening. But, that didn’t stop the students from raging forward.
One video spreading through social media like wildfire showed police shoving their way through a sea of students.
BREAKING: Chinese police storm police student protest inside Nanjing Normal University pic.twitter.com/jdZuZilS4a
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 8, 2021
Police used pepper spray and batons in attempts to disperse the protest.
Chinese police officers beat students with batons at Nanjing Normal University; the students have been arguing about their graduate degree since the last month. pic.twitter.com/4890uuzvrB
— Wu Lebao (@MerlotN) June 8, 2021
While it is being referred to as a hostage situation, students say the dean was sitting with them voluntarily.
Here are some pictures (WARNING: Blood)