Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a leading research institution in worldwide higher education and university rankings, released on Wednesday its World University Rankings by Subject 2020. There are few if any surprises from the front-runners in popular subjects in the latest edition, but some of Hong Kong’s elite universities found themselves placed lower in quite a few subjects than they were a year ago. The revelation is further proof of many people’s concerns regarding the growing harm that frequent protests, often involving violence and vandalism, have inflicted on universities here in recent years. More worrying is that what happened in the second half of 2019 is yet to be manifested in the new rankings, with QS warning of further declines for Hong Kong universities over the next three years.
It saddens many Hong Kong people that the city is bracing for the bleak prospect of diminishing competitiveness. Sociopolitical unrest, if it continues unabated, will not only interrupt the daily workings of local universities to the detriment of local students, but also discourage mainland and international students, educators and researchers — especially the elites — from attending or working at local universities.
What the latest QS ranking report shows, as far as the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University and Polytechnic University are concerned, is not the result of the ongoing “black revolution”, which has been causing comprehensive damage to Hong Kong since June, but rather of earlier sociopolitical disturbances such as the illegal “Occupy Central” protests in 2014. It tells us, to some extent, about the health of the local education system and perhaps the economy, too. After all, young people are the future of society, and the quality of their education is crucial to ensuring the long-term development of the economy — which is the lifeline of all communities.
Sociopolitical activism, when misguided, tends to hurt public order immediately, but often causes more profound harm to the economy gradually by changing the mindset of the younger generation in a counterproductive direction. Besides, Hong Kong, as a special administrative region of China, plays a significant role in the country’s national development. That is why it has been progressively victimized by sociopolitical unrest in recent years and will most likely remain so as long as Washington believes Hong Kong’s sufferings would contribute to the success of its efforts to contain if not derail China’s development. All the demands raised by violent protesters are unjustifiable excuses for Washington to blackmail Beijing by taking Hong Kong hostage and hopefully hinder China’s progress by disrupting if not paralyzing Hong Kong’s economy.
There is no doubt Hong Kong’s education system has been seriously tampered with over the years to facilitate the anti-China campaign designed, launched and spearheaded by Washington politicians with help from their local proxies. Without an immediate overhaul of the education system — not least removing rogue teachers who keep poisoning the city’s youth and politicizing the campuses — the lingering effect of the “black revolution” will persist even after violent protests stop in the near future. That is why opposition politician Anson Chan Fang On-sang is so sure of “no peace for Hong Kong anytime soon”. It is up to the 7-million-strong local residents, as well as the SAR government, to decide whether they can go on living like this indefinitely.
