Hong Kong leader CY Leung urged to reveal details of ‘sensitive’ talks with HKU chief
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying faced calls on Friday to disclose details of what he discussed with the head of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in a meeting held weeks before the controversial rejection of a liberal academic’s promotion to a senior management role.
Staff, students and alumni of HKU expressed concerns that Leung had exerted political pressure on their vice-chancellor Peter Mathieson as the meeting came at a sensitive time.
People would suspect that [Leung] might seek to influence matters
They spoke out as more than 1,000 people formed a sea of black in the campus on Friday night in a rally condemning the decision of the university council to reject the appointment of Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun, a former law faculty dean, as a pro-vice-chancellor. Organisers claimed 4,000 people had attended the rally.
Ip Kin-yuen, the education sector lawmaker and convener of an HKU alumni concern group, urged Leung to come clean on what was discussed during the meeting.
“The timing [of the meeting] is very sensitive. People would suspect that [Leung] might seek to influence matters relating to Professor Chan,” Ip said.
