Dean tells why he decided to quit

The dean of Baptist University's School of Communication, embroiled in a row over the premature release of opinion poll results on the chief executive election, said he hoped his resignation would end a 'power struggle'.

Professor Zhao Xinshu also accused the media of harassing his family - hurting 'innocent people', in a letter released last night by the university's public affairs department. He reiterated that he had not been under any political pressure when he decided to publish the survey results prematurely.

'Reporters wait outside my apartment complex day and night, weekdays and weekends, bothering my neighbours. Several of them claimed to be delivery men, forcing their way into my apartment, harassing my family even when I was not home,' he said in the resignation letter, which he submitted on Friday.

'What started as a concern for democracy and academic freedom in Hong Kong has evolved into a power struggle within office. I hope my resignation will help to end all this.'

Zhao said some of his colleagues, unrelated to the survey, had been 'personally attacked' in the media in the past few days and he was concerned 'more and more ... innocent people will be attacked'.

But one of Zhao's colleagues said he knew nothing of any power struggle at the university and urged Zhao to explain what he meant by the term.

'It's a very generic term. He should explain it clearly in public. All he's saying now is that he hasn't done anything wrong,' said To Yiu-ming, a spokesman for the university's faculty and staff union and a teacher at the School of Communication.