University chief in Hong Kong says he was not under pressure to leave out word ‘national’ in title of Taiwanese alma mater for biography
- Professor Wei Shyy, an alumnus of National Tsing Hua University, said there was no discussion with anyone outside his school over decision
The head of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said he and school staff decided after much consideration to not include the word “national” in the title of his Taiwanese alma mater in his biography but denied he was pressured to do so.
Professor Wei Shyy, an alumnus of National Tsing Hua University, also said on Tuesday that as a Taiwanese, he would never do anything to betray his homeland.
“We were not pressured into making the decision, there was never any discussion with anyone [outside the school],” said Shyy, an aerospace engineering expert who was appointed the university’s president last September.
“It was an internal agreement among school staff after much thorough and deliberate consideration and I utterly support them.”
His biography on the school website said he graduated from Tsing Hua University.
The wording raised concerns of self-censorship but Wei denied such claims.
Use of the word “national” in regards to the self-ruled island has proved a sensitive issue. Recently, Beijing stepped up pressure, demanding international companies, including airlines, refer to the island either as a Chinese province or as Taiwan, China.
“As I have reiterated many times, I don’t feel there’s a need to make it black or white in terms of this situation,” Shyy said.
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Last month, when HKUST announced the appointment of Lionel Ni Ming-shuan – an alumnus of National Taiwan University – as provost, the word “national” did not appear in the press release.
“I understand that people will have their own interpretation of this, but I believe my colleagues have done a very comprehensive job,” Shyy said.
“When we made the announcement to the public, we had maintained an agreement with all stakeholders.”
Asked if the university would ban staff from publishing the full title of a Taiwanese alma mater, Shyy said HKUST would never review what employees wrote on their biographies or resumes.
“I did not need approval on what to write on my resume and, in turn, will not screen or interfere with how others present theirs. Each of us is only responsible for our own actions,” he said.
I did not need approval on what to write on my resume and, in turn, will not screen or interfere with how others present theirs
Another Tsing Hua graduate, City University president Way Kuo kept the full name of the school on his online biography.
It was reported earlier that among 12 higher education institutions in Hong Kong, including eight publicly-funded and four self-financed and private universities, three had removed the word “national” on academic websites and staff biographies.
Chinese University and Chu Hai College of Higher Education did not use the word.
On the website of Chinese University’s Taiwan Research Centre, names such as National Central University and National Cheng Kung University are presented without the word “national”.
Chu Hai College assistant professor So Chun-fai’s online biography stated Taiwan University instead of National Taiwan University.
Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah quickly came to the department’s defence, pledging to work on improving communications among authorities.
