HKU struggles to contain fallout over delayed appointment of Johannes Chan Man-mun as pro-vice-chancellor

As Hong Kong's top university struggles to contain the political fallout over a controversially delayed managerial appointment, it is fast turning into a new battle ground for students and pro-democracy activists to continue where they left off after last year's Occupy protests and the failure of the government to pass its electoral reform package for the 2017 chief executive poll.

The controversy took on shades of the Occupy unrest on Tuesday night, when students stormed a meeting of the University of Hong Kong's governing body after it decided again to defer the appointment of liberal scholar Johannes Chan Man-mun as a pro-vice-chancellor.

In a further fallout, two out of four candidates shortlisted for the post of provost, who will supervise Chan or whoever gets the pro-vice-chancellor job, have withdrawn their applications for the No2 position at HKU.

Chan, a law professor known for his moderate pro-democracy views and close ties to his colleague and Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting, yesterday claimed a middleman assigned by some council members had asked him "more than once" to withdraw from the selection process to end the acrimony.

Chan rejected the request: "For the sake of HKU's interests, they should not ask me to [withdraw], but instead should follow basic procedures and values."

HKU was now "ruled by men", Chan added.