File photo: China Daily

Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, chief secretary for administration of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), denied accusations that the SAR government withdrew three universities' funding requests to punish them for their roles in the protest.

Cheung said the government's decision has no connection to the six-month-long protests, which saw students' involvement and even some prestigious universities in the city turning into battlefields between rioters and the police force.

"It's not the government doesn't want to do it (approve the requests) and it's not to target or punish any universities," Cheung clarified, saying the decision aims to buy more time to fully explain those proposals to councilors so that they would have a higher chance to pass the Legislative Council.

Funding plans from Hong Kong's Polytechnic University (PolyU), Hong Kong University (HKU), and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) were respectively pulled by the SAR government two weeks ago and earlier this week.

The plans include a 250 million Hong Kong dollars proposal for medical teaching facilities at CUHK and HKU, plus an expansion plan totaling 1.4 billion Hong Kong dollars for PolyU.

When asked about the restoration of the PolyU following the weeks-long siege, Cheung said the SAR government would assist if it's needed after thorough evaluations were done by the university itself.

Cordons have been lifted surrounding the PolyU on Friday after a two-day search conducted by police.

A total of 3,989 bottles of petrol bombs, 1,399 pieces of explosives, 601 bottles of corrosive liquids, as well as 573 pieces of weapons were seized during the police operation.