HKU sets September deadline for decision on appointment of controversial academic

The University of Hong Kong's governing council has set a September deadline to decide on whether to appoint liberal scholar Johannes Chan Man-mun to a key managerial post and end months of bitter dispute.

After a meeting held under tight security last night, the council said it was asking police to investigate allegations of "criminal" conduct during a radical protest at the last meeting when students and outsiders burst into the venue and some of them later stopped members from leaving the campus.

Council chairman Dr Leong Che-hung did not specify whether students or outsiders would be targeted.

The council also accepted a recommendation from senior management that none of the scholars involved in a row over donations related to Occupy Central should be fired, including its co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting and his former boss, Chan.

Pro-government council members had wanted to wait until the supervisory post of provost was filled first before confirming Chan's appointment, but critics saw it as a move to punish the scholar, who is known for his liberal views and friendship with Tai.

"We realise in the near future there is no possibility of naming the provost," said Leong.