Outgoing HKU chief Tsui Lap-chee says academic freedom crucial

Academic freedom and active civic engagement are crucial to the future of the city's most prestigeous university, says Tsui Lap-chee, the outgoing vice chancellor of the University of Hong Kong.

The geneticist said those freedoms must be preserved, especially given the political activities of some of the university's faculty had recently been questioned.

Last year, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, an associate professor of law at the university, helped start Occupy Central, a movement that calls on people to occupy the city's main financial district in a quest for universal suffrage.

Tai said he had not encountered any pressure from the university because of his political views and that the university had not questioned or even asked about his political beliefs.

"I think I have full academic freedom," said Tai. "I believe Professor Tsui has done a good job in taking the university to another level of achievement."

Tsui said that while the university should stay politically neutral, individual staff members were entitled to express their values and beliefs.

"Our school of law is the most open in this," Tsui says. "Despite heated debates among them, all parties continue to be colleagues and friends, knowing that this is all part of the pursuit of academic excellence. This is the academic freedom that an educational institution must have."