Appointment of pro-Beijing scholar stirs up students at OpenU
Student union to hold sit-in over appointment of NPC deputy Wong Yuk-shan as president
Open University students are protesting against the selection of a pro-Beijing scholar as the university’s president, the second protest in a week by students angered over a lack of say in the choice of their institution’s head.
The university council is on Thursday expected to approve the appointment of University of Science and Technology vice-president and National People’s Congress deputy Wong Yuk-shan as president.
The university student union will stage a sit-in during the meeting.
Union president Chan Pui-hei said the selection process was opaque and many students did not know about it. Although Chan is a council member, he said he did not have a vote on the appointment.
The university refused to comment, saying it would make an announcement after the council meeting.
The council shouldn’t have rushed to hold the consultation meeting ... [and] I, as a council member, was only informed at the same time as other students.
The students’ action comes after Lingnan University students on Monday protested against the appointment of Leonard Cheng Kwok-hon, a former adviser to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s election campaign, as president, saying they may boycott classes when the new term begins in September in protest against the appointment.