Two PolyU students in hunger strike over school’s handling of ‘democracy wall’ after pro-Hong Kong independence messages

Action latest twist in controversy involving university officials and student union

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Polytechnic University student union president Lam Wing-hang (centre). Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 11:32pm, 5 Oct 2018Updated: 3:25pm, 6 Oct 2018

Two university students in Hong Kong launched a hunger strike on Friday to protest the school taking control of a bulletin board on which messages advocating the city’s independence from China had been posted.

Polytechnic University student union president Lam Wing-hang and Victor Yuen Pak-leung said they would not end their action until the school reinstated their rights to the “democracy wall”, where open messages are affixed.

Red sheets of paper covering the PolyU bulletin board were torn down. Photo: Alvin Lum

But the two did not reveal whether they would take any further action at the Hung Hom campus on Saturday, where the school is to hold an open-day event.

The controversy between the student group and school officials erupted almost two weeks ago after the union temporarily relaxed rules for posting messages on the board, following the government’s unprecedented ban on the Hong Kong National Party (HKNP), a separatist group.

After the changes, some pro-independence messages emerged on the board. Two PolyU ultimatums to restore the wall were ignored, and school officials eventually covered the material with red paper.