Former student chief in Hong Kong punished for ‘Chee-na’ tirade

Ernie Chow was filmed arguing with mainland students, who he said had tried to cover up other people’s messages on the campus ‘Democracy Wall’

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Ernie Chow used to be CUHK student union president. Photo: David Wong

Published: 11:29am, 28 Oct 2017Updated: 5:28pm, 28 Oct 2017

A former student union chief at Chinese University has been punished by his college, for a filmed fracas in which he used an anti-mainland slur, the college revealed on Friday.

Ernie Chow Shue-fung, who used to be CUHK student union president, got a strike against his disciplinary record and was ordered to do 40 hours service at the university.

Chow used the word “Chee-na” – a derogatory name for China – and other foul language during a heated argument on September 7, with mainland students who had tried to cover up posters on campus in support of Hong Kong independence.

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The row happened during a weeks-long free speech saga on many Hong Kong campuses, during which pro-independence banners were variously put up, torn down or covered by people from either side of the debate. Physical confrontations also broke out.

Chow said previously he used the slur after mainland students ignored union rules against covering up other messages on the campus “Democracy Wall”, and accused them of swearing at people.

Soon after the film of the exchange was posted online, CUHK “severely condemned” the use of such “insulting” words and said it was investigating the incident.

On Friday the university’s governing council had a meeting during which it discussed how CUHK handled the independence poster saga.

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