
National security law: Hong Kong’s academic freedom is safe, but the fear of losing it is harmful
- There is no compelling evidence that the new national security law has in any way impinged on the many freedoms this city’s scholars enjoy
- Academia in Hong Kong is far more free than in the United States, where research is only mostly free and professors are told to silence their political views
On August 15, I took part in a webinar organised by the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law on the potential impact of the national security law on Hong Kong’s academic freedom. The panellists voiced strong concerns, and we were told to be proactive and that “wait and see” was the wrong approach.
Are we really losing academic freedom? I have not seen any hard evidence of its infringement in Hong Kong.
Since 1997, there has been limited evidence of the infringement of academic freedom under the “one country, two systems” framework. The national security law specifically states that Hong Kong people’s freedom of speech will be protected. In my understanding, its limitations to political activities are designed to protect Hong Kong in case violence continues and the local legal system is incapable of stopping it.

05:50
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Hong Kong has more academic freedom than the United States, where I spent most of my academic career. In the US, I learned very quickly that professors should avoid advocating their political views because their authority in a classroom can put pressure on students who disagree with them. Academic research is mostly free, but not if your research is to justify the rise of Nazi Germany.
In recent years, again in the name of national security, several US scholars with Chinese ties have faced charges and scholars from China were prevented from attending academic conferences in the US.
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Fear is a powerful and effective tool to change people’s attitude and behaviour. Creating fear has no cost and does not need facts to back up.
In my opinion, fear is not beneficial to the academic community. We are losing academic freedom in the very process of being afraid of losing it. There are two ways scholars can face fear, and both are detrimental to academic freedom.
One way to deal with fear is to be proactive, as the experts at the HKU webinar called on people to do. To be proactive, scholars become political activists and spend a considerable amount of time and energy to prevent something that may not happen in the future. This political activism in the name of academic freedom puts pressure on scholars and prevents them from exercising their freedom to focus on academic research.

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As someone who grew up during the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in China, I have no interest in engaging in another political campaign in the name of academic freedom. I was denied a college education during the political zeal of the Cultural Revolution and wasted valuable years in my youth. I could only go to college at an age when most people normally graduate from college. I hope Hong Kong’s young people today will not waste their precious years in political campaigns as I did.
The fear of losing not just academic freedom but everything in Hong Kong in 1997 must be 100 times worse than now, yet Hong Kong continues to be a free and attractive place. That is why I left the increasingly controlling academic environment in the US and came to Hong Kong during the height of the social movement last year.
I am optimistic about the future of Hong Kong’s academic freedom. I see no sign that such freedom will be taken away any time soon.
Wenfang Tang is head and chair professor of the Division of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
