Message sent: Liberal academics sweep three vacant seats in University of Hong Kong council election
The internal election, open to teachers, seen as rebuke to institution’s handling of pro-vice-chancellor controversy
Three liberal academics of the University of Hong Kong won seats to the university council in an election widely regarded as a showdown between the pan-democratic and pro-establishment voices in the university’s governing body.
The university internal election was open to teachers and followed continuing controversy over the council’s refusal to appoint pan-democrat-friendly legal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun as a pro-vice-chancellor in October.
Critics believed Beijing had worked behind the scenes to block Professor Chan’s appointment.
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The university last night announced that Professor Joseph Chan Cho-wai of its department of politics and public administration, Professor Timothy O’Leary of its school of humanities, and incumbent Dr Cheung Kie-chung of its department of mechanical engineering were elected. As new full-time teachers’ representatives, their three-year terms were expected to start from December 9.
The trio respectively collected 328, 322, and 183 of the 1,487 valid votes in the election. All had expressed support for Chan’s appointment.
In their election platforms, they emphasised their defence of the university’s autonomy and academic freedom.
Eight candidates vied for the seats. Others included Professor Richard Wong Yue-chim of the school of economics and finance, who is considered a conservative, as well as Professor Alfonso Ngan Hing-wan, who played down politics in his election platform, saying: “I have little interest in politics” and that “politics is about compromise”.
In a statement, O’Leary said the result was “a sure sign that the vast majority of [university] teachers are unhappy with the recent developments and want a strong voice in council to defend our core values”.