Hong Kong university condemns independence calls again as student group adds members

Member says new society has had no problems from the school, and aims to debate issues around calls for the city to part ways with China

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A banner, since removed, reads ‘Hong Kong independence’ on Chinese University’s Sha Tin campus. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 9:15pm, 17 Jan 2018Updated: 11:33pm, 17 Jan 2018

Chinese University has reiterated its opposition to Hong Kong independence after a student society for discussing the city’s breakaway from China began recruiting last week.

In a statement released on Wednesday – about half a month after new vice chancellor Rocky Tuan Sung-chi took office – the university said: “Any speech or act that incites or promotes Hong Kong independence is in contravention of the Basic Law.”

But it said it would continue to do its utmost to protect freedom of speech and academic autonomy, while ensuring the campus is a place for “the engagement of rational intellectual pursuits, instead of political contests”.

It is not the first time Chinese University (CUHK) has issued such a statement. In September last year it was one of 10 institutions which released a joint statement saying they did not support Hong Kong independence and condemning abuses of freedom of expression.

The new club, named the Society for the Study of Hong Kong Independence and under CUHK’s student union, posted a recruitment message on CUHK Secrets, a popular Facebook page on which the institution’s students post anonymously, on Friday last week.