University dean offers praise but not passes

Students' dedication to political reform was praised by the University of Hong Kong's dean of medicine yesterday - but he refused to promise not to punish those who take part in next week's class boycott.

Professor Gabriel Leung, who served as undersecretary for food and health and director of the Chief Executive's Office in the last administration, also said he was sad to see Beijing's framework on the 2017 chief executive election had polarised the city.

"This is definitely not a healthy phenomenon for Hong Kong," he said.

"But I believe Hongkongers, the young people and my friends in the political arena have the wisdom to find the way out for Hong Kong and stay united again."

Leung's remarks came after the latest of his regular meetings with students in which they discussed the one-week class boycott starting on Monday.

The student "strike" aims to show their condemnation of the 2017 election framework handed down by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress last month - which effectively dashed hopes that a pan-democrat would be on the ballot paper for the city's first ever one man, one vote election.