Australia has expressed deep concern about escalating violence in Hong Kong after police stormed a university campus held by protesters following an all-night siege.
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Police repeatedly fired barrages of tear gas and water cannons at anti-government protesters who had barricaded themselves inside Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
"We are very concerned about the scenes that we have seen today," Foreign Minister Marise Payne told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
"I have been in touch through my office ... with Australia's consul-general in Hong Kong, Michaelia Browning.
"She is regularly engaging with Australians as part of the disapora there and engaging with Hong Kong authorities and of course with counterparts who share similar concerns."
Police surrounded the campus on Sunday night and began moving in after ordering people to leave.
Riot officers breached one entrance before dawn as fires raged inside and outside the school.
Fiery explosions could be seen as protesters responded with petrol bombs.
A few hundred protesters streamed out of the university on Monday morning in an apparent bid to escape, but were driven back by police tear gas.
Police have reportedly made a handful of arrests.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the escalating tensions were playing out across the streets of Hong Kong on a daily basis.
"What we want to see, obviously, is the temperature taken down and people's safety and security being maintained," he told reporters in Sydney.
Australian Associated Press