Hong Kong education chief ‘risks eroding HKU autonomy’ in probe of Occupy's Benny Tai

Lawmakers have accused the education minister of eroding the autonomy of the University of Hong Kong after he admitted writing repeatedly to the institution’s governing body urging it to investigate an Occupy Central co-founder over controversial handling of donations.

Pan-democratic legislators levelled severe criticism at Secretary for Education Eddie Ng Hak-kim following his disclosure of active involvement in the HK$1.45 million donations saga.

Ng’s multiple requests to the HKU council, the institution’s top decision-making body, came ahead of its discussion this month on an audit report looking into the case.

The council will then decide whether to convene a disciplinary hearing on Dr Benny Tai Yiu-ting, a law academic who passed on the money to different departments at HKU.

The government had been paying close attention to the development of the case, Ng said yesterday in response to pro-Beijing lawmaker Chan Kam-lam’s question about Tai’s acceptance of the donations.

“The Education Bureau has written repeatedly to the HKU council and management since November 2014 to request the institution to conduct a thorough review of information in connection with the handling of these donations and consider releasing further information on the sources of donations to address public concerns,” Ng told lawmakers in a written reply.