Some of the sharpest clashes have taken place at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where police say protesters shot arrows dipped in gasoline and lit on fire, even using electric saws to target officers.

Marine police used a boat Wednesday to evacuate dozens of mainland Chinese students at their request from the CUHK campus, which remains barricaded by protesters preparing for more skirmishes.

Protests – now in their sixth month – have plunged Hong Kong into its worst political crisis ever, in a direct challenge to the authority of Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. ...