White Terror Looms in Hong Kong as Schools Ask to Ditch Debate Topics on Anti-extradition Bill

White terror continues to loom among schools in Hong Kong. One of the debate topics selected by Hong Kong Schools Debate Federation this year was associated with Anti-Extradition Bill, and was then criticized by pro-Beijing newspaper and Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, also a pro-Beijing organisation. Sources of Apple Daily revealed that Education Bureau has been calling down the list of participating schools, exerting pressure on them to withdraw, saying “its is not advisable to discuss sensitive issues amid a sensitive time”. It was also said that schools were asked to provide names of those students refused to quit.

Besides, major sponsoring bodies of schools, including Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong and Shun Tak Fraternal Association also made contact with and advised their respective subsidizing schools to withdraw from the contest.

The Federation confirmed that 17 schools has withdrawn from this year’s debate contest so far, among which 5 were Government Schools. The Education Bureau had not responded to whether they had been pressurizing participating schools to drop out. However, the Bureau did stress that students should not participate in any contest that is politically coloured, fearing that it may affect their wellbeing.

Source: Apple Daily
http://bit.ly/2QHxYLh

#Jan11 #WhiteTerror #Schools #EducationBureau #Debate #Academia

#PoliticalOppression
#HKU Student union: Appointment of Chinese Academics as University's Pro-vice-president is a “Black-box Operation”

Along with several pto-democracy lawmakers, President of the Hong Kong University Students' Union, Yip Zi-lam held a press conference on October 26, 2020.

Yip comdemned the appointment of the university’s pro-vice-presidents as a “black-box operation” which lacked transparency to the stakeholders.

Yip pointed out that both candidates were closely connected to China and the arrangement is detrimental to the University’s autonomy.

In fact, one of the candidates is reportedly a Chinese Communist Party member:
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/26187

The Students' Union called for a petition. As at 8pm on October 26, 2,100 signatures were collected from the University’s staff members, students and alumni.

Source: Stand News #Oct26

#Collusion #University #Academia

#Censorship #University #Academia
Now TV News Segment Removed Because News Chief “Personally Thinks it was Inappropriate”

A Now TV news segment was ordered to be removed by News Chief Bill Chan, claiming that he “personally thinks it was inappropriate”. The now-removed clip showed Ip Kin-yuen, a legislative councilor of the education sector expressing concerns about Max Shen, allegedly a Communist Party member, being nominated to be the vice-chancellor at the University of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) issued a statement saying that the removal of news segments is rare, and it is concerning whether the NowTV is self-censoring since the news report touched upon the topic of Max Shen’s status as a Communist Party member.

HKJA urged NowTV Chan to further explain and clarify his measures on handling this news segment in order to allay any public concern.

Source: Stand News #Oct26

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Also see

New #HKU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Candidate is Reportedly a Chinese Communist Party Member, Lawmaker Challenges Hiring of Mainland Chinese Scholars a Practice of Cronyism
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/26187

#Mainlandization #Sinicization
#Poll: 64% Respondents Consider #HKU's Appointment of Mainland Professors as Vice-Presidents as Against Principle of Fairness

The governing council of the University of Hong Kong (#HKU) appointed two professors from mainland China, Max Shen Zuojan and Gong Peng, as vice-presidents. Shen is suspected to be a Communist Party member but the council clarified that the allegations are found to be unsubstantiated.

The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (#PORI) has interviewed 5,767 Hong Kong citizens in November 2020. The survey asked the question: 'The University of Hong Kong recently appointed two scholars from Tsinghua University, Max Shen and Peng Gong, as Vice-Presidents. How much do you consider the appointment to comply with, or not comply with, the principle of fairness?'.

89% of the pro-democracy respondents said the appointment did not comply with the principle of fairness. A total of 64% of respondents, pro-democracy or otherwise, considered the appointment 'not quite comply', ' very much not comply' and 'entirely not comply' with the principle.

Dr. Chan King-ming, associate professor at the School of Life Sciences of Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK) and the former chairman of the Teacher's Association of CUHK, said that this appointment clearly shows the mainlandization and Sinicization of HKU.

Chan added that when he was the union chief a few years ago, a number of his colleagues at CUHK complained the use of Mandarin during meetings, 'it is now mainlandization, not globalization.'

Chan mentioned that since many mainland Chinese scholars had returned to China from the US, Hong Kong had become one of their preferred destinations. He worried that these scholars are being intentionally installed in different universities and organizations in Hong Kong. He added that HKU's appointment this time was related to the earlier change in the governance structure, such as the direct interventions occurring in the governing council and the Court. Such things had actually happened 15 years ago at the university.'

Chan also criticized that this appointment had already posed threats to academic freedom and institutional autonomy, and noted that the issue of resource allocation was involved here as a number of scholars had been invited to work in mainland China, especially the Greater Bay Area.

Regarding the National Security Law, Chan remarked that chilling effect had already been brought by the reporting hotline set up by the Police's National Security Department, and 'Cultural Revolution 2.0' had come. Some students had begun self-censoring as they changed the names of their online accounts.

Source: InMedia #Nov6
https://bit.ly/34ZHErD

#AcademicFreedom #University #Academia #CCPControl #CulturalRevolution

#Academia #Oppression #FreedomOfSpeech #University
Lingnan University Terminates Adjunct Appointment of 2 Outspoken Professors

In response to inquiries by Stand News, the Hong Kong Lingnan University (#HKLU) indicated the adjunct appointment of Law Wing-Sang and Hui Po-Keung have ended in September 2021, and their names have been removed from the school website's list of faculty members. They were professors of Cultural Studies.

The university did not mention the reason for not renewing their contracts.

Law and Hui are scholars active in pro-democracy protest movements, commenting often on current affairs. At the beginning of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, after the police fired tear gas on the gathering crowds, the two publicly condemned the government's actions and went on strike as teachers.

Hui is also a trustee of the “612 Humanitarian Relief Fund”, a fund supporting those injured or arrested during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement.

After the implement of National Security Law, Law continued to comment on newspapers. He published an opinion piece in MingPao on September 3, 2021, saying that the implementation of the National Security Law had 'perfected' Hong Kong's democratic 'election' system overnight. It also put an end to the ongoing controversy over the pace of democratization since the city's “return to China”: “Hong Kong strides into the era of “authoritarian rule”.

Source: Stand News; #Sept30
https://www.thestandnews.com/society/a_%E5%B6%BA%E5%A4%A7%E8%88%87%E7%BE%85%E6%B0%B8%E7%94%9F%E8%A8%B1%E5%AF%B6%E5%BC%B7%E5%90%88%E7%B4%84%E7%B5%82%E7%B5%90-%E6%95%99%E8%81%B7%E5%93%A1%E5%90%8D%E5%96%AE%E5%B7%B2%E9%99%A4%E5%90%8D

#LingnanUniversity #HongKong #TearGas #NationalSecurityLaw #Censorship #Professor #LawWingSang #HuiPoKeung

#HKProtest #University
Defiant University Students Carry Out Pop-Up Protests on Graduation Day, Calls Attention to Persecuted Students

November 4 marked the annual graduation ceremony of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK). Although no large-scale protests were seen this year under the iron grip of the National Security Law, traces of defiance still sprang up around the campus.

Large Banners Protest Admin Interference in Student Governance

As early as 6:30am, a large vertical banner with the words “Restore Student Autonomy「還我學生自治」” was spotted, as was another smaller one that said “Consultation Must Precede Staff-Student Collaboration 員生共治，必先共議」” . By 8am, both banners had been removed by school staff.

On the #WallofDemocracy, a large notice board created for students to voice opinion, multiple posters were seen with the call “OSA and subsidiary faculty committee, join the provisional Administration”, protesting the school's new requirement for student organizations to be registered with the school administration.

During the graduation ceremony, defiant graduates from Nursing showed protest handbills that wrote “Dare to be different; Be Faithful to your belief 「棱角分明，毋負期許」”. Some social work graduates wore white ribbons on their graduation robes, and carried handbills with slogans such as “Grieve our Student Union”.

Ex-Police Security Chief Disrupts Students Handing Out White Ribbons, But Chastised by Parents

At around 12:30, 5 CUHK students held up a banner that wrote “Grieve my CUHK” on the University Mall, and set up a counter to hand out white ribbons.

Although the group of students did not obstruct the proceeding of graduation ceremony, they were quickly encircled by more than 10 campus security and were ordered to leave. The students demanded the security guards for reasons that they were not allowed to hand out white ribbons, as they were not obstructing the ceremony.

Lee Wing-kwong, head of Campus Security and a former Police Superintendent, ordered his staff to remove the students’ protest materials immediately. He was, however, stopped by members of Student Affairs Office, who asked him to “calm down”.

Some parents on the site stepped in to show their support to the protesting students. Quoting the classic Confucian text "Great Learning", they criticized the campus guards for abusing their powers: "Don't you officials remember the Way of the Great Learning?"

"We've Graduated, But They Couldn't"

Scattered protest activities continued around campus into the evening. Nine graduates, wearing their graduation robes, held up signs with names of fellow students who had been arrested and jailed for their involvement in the 2019 anti-ELAB movement.

Their names are Cheung Chun-ho, Tang Hei-man, Ko Tsz-bun, Lau Chun-yuk, Fu Ngai-Ching, Chen Lik-sik, Hui Yi-shui, Li Chun-ho.

The last sign read poignantly: "We've graduated, but they couldn't."

#NationalSecurityLaw #NSL #NeverForget #Academia #WallofDemocracy #CUSU

Sources: Citizen News, Chinese University Student Press; #Nov4
https://bit.ly/3nVrgRf