External attacks only hurt reputation of HKU, and Hong Kong

As a former member of the University of Hong Kong law faculty, under the leadership of then dean Johannes Chan Man-mun, I have been disturbed by recent press reports of alleged political interference with the possible consideration of Professor Chan for the position of pro-vice-chancellor at HKU.

While academic institutions are certainly not immune from being influenced by internal politics and personality clashes, politically motivated campaigns orchestrated by outside forces have no place in any university's decision-making process.

Minimal research suggests that, in particular, allegations that the quality of the law faculty suffered during Professor Chan's tenure are wholly unfounded.

According to the QS World University Rankings for Law, HKU improved from 31st in 2011 to 18th last year. By comparison, the respective rankings for the National University of Singapore's law programme were 24th in 2011 and 19th last year; Chinese University ranked in the 51-100 group in both years. Such rankings are hardly definitive and should always be taken with several large grains of salt, but HKU's consistent ranking as one of the best in the world - not just in Asia - speaks for itself.

I was impressed by the quality of my law colleagues' work during the 2½ years that I taught there, and I very much enjoyed my time in Hong Kong both inside and outside the university. Seven years after leaving, I bring no inside insight as to whether Professor Chan would be a brilliant, average, or poor pro-vice-chancellor, but that is not the point.

No university will maintain its reputation, either locally or internationally, unless its independence and academic integrity are respected, no matter how many citations it receives or where it places in unscientific rankings.