‘Complete ignorance’: Hong Kong Education Bureau refutes claim by ex-governor Patten that universities’ autonomy at threat
Bureau says current governance arrangement for local universities was ‘reaffirmed’ by Hong Kong’s last governor before the 1997 handover
The Education Bureau has hit back at former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten’s accusation that the autonomy of local universities is under threat, saying he was “acting in complete ignorance of the facts”.
In a strongly worded statement published on Wednesday, the bureau pointed out that while Patten had been in office he “reaffirmed” the constitutional arrangement that the governor should act as the head of all publically funded universities in the city.
“Throughout the remainder of his term, Lord Patten did not revise this mechanism or the relevant legislation,” the bureau wrote.
READ MORE: Last Hong Kong governor Chris Patten says academic freedom under threat from government taking its cue from Beijing
“Therefore, the current practice of the chief executive being chancellor of the government-funded universities precisely stems from the then governor Patten’s decision.”
The confrontational statement came a day after Patten, the last governor of the city before the 1997 handover, argued in an article that the SAR government had been trying to undermine local universities at the orders of Beijing because students had supported the pro-democracy Occupy protests in 2014.
“Such a claim is totally groundless and a sheer fabrication, and the HKSAR government expresses deep regret,” the bureau said in response.
Students at several local universities have been demanding the chief executive be stripped of his default position as chancellor and his power to appoint members to the schools’ governing bodies.