Hong Kong police, Education Bureau blast Chinese University student union post ‘glorifying’ violence during last year’s anti-government protests

The ‘Letter to Freshmen’ said the university kept its academic freedom because students ‘used their bodies to resist bullets and water cannon’

Police accused the student group of trying to ‘talk black into white, and glorifying and romanticising rioters’ violence’

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Police and protesters exchange tear gas and petrol bombs during the siege of Chinese University last November in Sha Tin. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 11:39pm, 25 Aug 2020Updated: 11:28am, 26 Aug 2020

Hong Kong police and education authorities have joined a chorus of criticism from mainland media aimed at Chinese University’s student union, which they accused of glorifying violence in a Facebook post about the clashes at the campus during last year’s anti-government protests.

The firestorm of criticism – dismissed by the union’s president – was set off by a “Letter to Freshmen” posted by the student union looking back at university students’ participation in last year’s protests and the subsequent occupation of, and clashes at, Chinese University’s campus last November.

Anyone or any group should not cover up or glorify violence to mislead others to agree or take part in it under the pretext of freedom of speech or academic freedom

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau

The letter, posted on August 13 on the student union’s Facebook page, told freshmen the reason Chinese University had been able to keep its academic freedoms was because students and other Hongkongers had “defended the campus by using their bodies to resist bullets and water cannon”.

The union’s article added: “As a member of the university, you are also the chosen ones. From today, the spirit of Chinese University, and the mission of safeguarding the campus, is passed on to you.”

In a statement on Tuesday, however, Hong Kong police accused the student union of trying to “talk black into white, and glorifying and romanticising rioters’ violence”.

The “Letter to Freshmen” posted on Facebook by the Chinese University student union. Photo: CUHK Student Union Facebook

In a statement of its own, the Education Bureau said: “Anyone or any group should not cover up or glorify violence to mislead others to agree or take part in it under the pretext of freedom of speech or academic freedom.”