The University of Hong Kong’s governing council in August ruled that all student leaders involved in the passing of a resolution mourning the death of a man who stabbed a police officer in July would be banned from stepping foot on campus or using any of its facilities and services. Soon after the decision was made public, seven court members of HKU and over 1,000 alumni urged the council to withdraw this decision.
These weird episodes surprised few. In retrospect, HKU has always sided with the opposition camp on major political issues and played a significant role in many anti-government campaigns over the 24 years since the reunification. If we wish to put Hong Kong’s house in order, the special administrative region should seriously consider “reclaiming” HKU as an ideological platform for advocating patriotism, instead of allowing it to stay as a bastion of anti-China propaganda or illegal activities.
Indeed, it was appalling to see the HKU Students’ Union Council sympathize and glorify the lone-wolf terrorist who assaulted a police officer before killing himself on July 1. These student representatives clearly were hellbent on defying the political regime of Hong Kong, to the extent that they did not recognize the illegality and the associated consequences of commemorating the attacker, an act that glorified terrorism. Although the HKU Council made an appropriate response to disown and evict its students’ union, followed by banning the students involved from entering the campus, a group of alumni signed a petition which slammed the HKU Council for overstepping its authority to penalize students directly and said its decision could have breached the university’s statutes. What’s more, seven court members of the HKU issued an open letter demanding the student ban be overturned, citing that it would be “legally inappropriate” to penalize students before any arrests were made. Needless to say, these seven “gentlemen” fail to address the severity of the incident.
These alumni and court members have failed to live up to the expectations of the public as they should supposedly understand the law and lawful activities better than the students. Conceivably, they could be carrying out an order by their foreign bosses to attack the student ban. Indeed, they are part of the “Hong Kong card” deployed by the Biden administration that will not miss a chance to batter China. For instance, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued to raise serious concerns about “ongoing human rights abuses” in Hong Kong in the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting even though Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed such groundless accusations. Furthermore, US President Joe Biden recently signed a memorandum to offer temporary “safe haven” to Hong Kong residents for up to 18 months. It can be concluded that Washington still regards Hong Kong as a front-line city in containing China, with HKU being one of the bastions.
Personally, I believe the HKU Students’ Union saga has become a manifestation of the tug-of-war between anti-China forces who wish to extend the black-clad riots and the patriotic forces who wish to restore Hong Kong’s law and order. Washington will criticize the upcoming elections for the Election Committee, Legislative Council and the chief executive, but for the time being it will not forget its HKU bastion which had contributed to its anti-China effort in the past, including former associate professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting’s “Occupy Central” movement and “10 steps to Hong Kong’s mutual destruction route”, as well as the separatist propaganda promoted by the HKU’s Undergrad school magazine.
Therefore, it is necessary for the SAR to reclaim HKU as an ideological platform for patriotism. It will not be mission impossible if we take appropriate actions against its unlawful activities, as shown in the case of the Professional Teachers’ Union.
The author is president of Hong Kong think tank the Golden Mean Institute.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
