University of Hong Kong tears down Lennon Wall on campus, barricades site after students’ contract to manage area expires
- HKU’s student union says university’s accommodation committee rejected its application to renew contract to manage the site
- City leader had earlier warned university that law enforcement could intervene if HKU did not comply with sweeping national security legislation
Hong Kong’s leading university on Saturday tore down a so-called Lennon Wall, where students posted anti-government messages, and barricaded the site after a contract allowing them to use the area was not renewed.
The law, which was imposed by Beijing on June 30 and bans acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, has a clause stating that the Hong Kong government “shall promote national security education in schools and universities”.
HKU’s student union on Saturday said the university’s accommodation committee had rejected its application to renew the contract to manage the site and wall space the previous day. The agreement that gave the students the right to use the area along University Street – which had been renewed every three years – expired on Thursday.
University Street opened in 2013 as a pedestrian walkway with long benches and counters, linking the main campus with the Centennial Campus.