‘Cultural Revolution style’ attacks on HKU threaten academic freedom: former law dean
Former law faculty dean attacked by pro-Beijing media hints at application for management post
Continuing attacks by the pro-Beijing media against a former University of Hong Kong law dean are an attempt to block him from taking up a key managerial position in the university, the scholar wrote in the Chinese press yesterday.
It is the first time that Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun has addressed reports that he was recommended for the newlycreated pro-vice chancellor position in charge of academic staffing and resources. It is understood that a search committee recommended Chan in December.
Chan also asked if the "upper echelon of government" cooperated with pro-communist newspapers by prematurely releasing confidential reports upon which their stories were based.
"Leftist newspapers have launched ferocious attacks against the university's law faculty and myself," Chan wrote in .
"One of the reasons is the rumour that I may become the university's pro-vice chancellor."
Chan, who stepped down as dean last year, stresses that university appointments are purely internal matters. "Leftist newspapers resort to this kind of denunciation to put pressure on the university, which amounts to a serious intervention in the autonomy of the institution."
Chan is a member of Hong Kong 2020, a pro-democracy group led by former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang , who is a frequent target of attack in pro-Beijing papers.
Last week, and dedicated several pages to the faculty's poorer research grading compared to Chinese University in the latest assessment by the University Grants Committee (UGC). It also attacked Chan for "poor performance".
But the academic hit back by saying the faculty was 18th in the QS World University Rankings and that it had more quality submissions to the ranking exercise than Chinese University and City University combined.
He also questioned why the media had access to a UGC report prior to its publication.
"UGC reports are extremely confidential. Even committee members can only read them [without taking notes] ... If this incident involves the upper echelon of government, it would be a very serious intervention in academic and speech freedom," the constitutional law expert said.
The university has yet to make an announcement on the matter, saying the appointment process is still under way.
A member of the university council, who declined to be named, said the shortlist would first be submitted to the senate, followed by the council. The member said the issue was not yet on the council's agenda.
Another council member said no government official had approached him on the matter.
