On September 27, whistle-blowers sent three emails detailing their allegations to all council members.

Met with dead silence, they sent two more emails a few days later, prompting council chairwoman Priscilla Wong Pui-sze to call a special meeting on the matter.

Accusing “rumour-mongers” of leaking confidential information, Zhang requested legal representation at the meeting over what he described as “extremely serious accusations”.

As the controversy unfolded, critics unhappy with his leadership style seized the opportunity to strike, accusing him of trying to amass a power base by filling key roles with neither consultation nor transparency, saying he had no respect for established university procedures.

Zhang’s supporters came to his defence, describing him as a “reformer” who had come under attack for threatening the status quo and the vested interests of some at the 112-year-old university.

Some brushed off the recent events as little more than a storm in a teacup. But others wondered if the president, into his second term until 2028, would survive the storm.

Council chief promises a fair probe

Zhang, 59, the first HKU head born in mainland China, has not had an entirely smooth tenure.

At the height of the social unrest in 2019, he condemned protesters for storming the Legislative Council complex, triggering 2,000 HKU students and staff to sign a petition demanding that he retract it. He did not, but instead said he would condemn proven acts of violence committed “by any party” during the unrest.

In 2021, HKU severed ties with its student union over a controversial resolution “appreciating the sacrifice” of a man who stabbed a police officer before killing himself. Members of the union’s executive committee apologised, resigned and withdrew the resolution only after being condemned by the government.

Zhang was still two years from the end of his first term in October 2021 when the HKU council led by Arthur Li Kwok-cheung approved him another five-year term.

Li, dubbed “King Arthur” or even “The Tsar” for his combative style of governance, extended his term just before stepping down.

His successor as council chief, lawyer Wong, took over in January last year. Zhang has reportedly described having a “tense relationship” with her, saying they had different views on running a university.

In the current controversy, the chairwoman has pledged to get to the bottom of the accusations against the president in a fair manner.

A five-member panel has been set up to investigate the allegations and will deliver its findings in three months’ time.

Among the allegations are that Zhang bypassed procedures when replacing a work vehicle with a HK$2 million (US$255,400) BMW he preferred, and inappropriate handling of donations from a mainland corporation.

He has also been accused of recruiting a headhunter from the United States to hire a pro-vice-chancellor in institutional advancement and a medical dean, and requiring the candidates to have a US university background.

HKU had said the donations were in line with both Hong Kong and mainland laws, rejecting accusations of money laundering. It also said it was common practice for the university to hire a multinational headhunter to recruit foreign talent.

Zhang, meanwhile, accused “rumour-mongers” of leaking confidential HKU information, taking it out of context and twisting the truth to target him and the university.

His supporters argued the investigation process was disproportionate to the claims levelled against him.

They took aim at the council chairwoman, saying she had taken too much of a “hands-on” approach and accusing her of blowing up the complaints unnecessarily while capitalising on frustrations aired by Zhang’s critics.

Zhang was said to have raised concerns at the last council meeting about a proposal for the chairwoman to have an office on campus, warning that it could lead to the council’s increasing involvement in day-to-day running of the university and possibly undermine academic autonomy.

That was not the first clash between the president and the chairwoman.

In May, Zhang did not attend an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of HKU’s department of medicine even though the guest list included Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and health minister Lo Chung-mau.

Grilled by council members about his no show, Zhang blurted that he had not been invited.

That sparked a fiery exchange, during which he was accused of lying and had his integrity questioned. He later issued a written statement admitting he was invited and regretting his “rushed response” but by then, the council had already decided to set up a panel to look into the matter, the Post learned.

After the whistle-blowers acted last month, some council members suggested reporting their allegations to the city’s graft-buster, but others were against doing so.

A person familiar with the situation said the saga smacked of making a mountain out of a molehill.

Referring to the council exchange over Zhang’s absence from the medical school event, the person said: “It is really not such a big deal. Even if he answered wrongly, it is not so serious that his integrity must be tarnished. A scientist’s future is doomed if his integrity is questioned.”

From lab chief to university president

Zhang’s critics viewed matters differently, suggesting that the recent allegations reflected his results-driven management style and apparent disregard for procedures and established protocols.

A host of fresh complaints have surfaced too, including an alleged lack of transparency over the expansion of the president’s office.

At least four members of HKU’s senior management team were found to be in acting or interim positions, drawing questions over the delay in appointments. Some suggested that Zhang was holding on until he found people he trusted.

A source said that under Zhang, there had been a higher-than-expected turnover of deans, with their authority trimmed especially with regards to securing funding from the university or appointing staff.

For example, deans used to put up names of department heads for the president’s approval after an internal nomination and consultation process.

But now their recommendations were sometimes set aside and the positions filled by external hires selected through a search steered by the president or a senior management member delegated by him, according to two sources.

The departments, and the deans, had little say, they added.

One of them said the changes reflected Zhang’s lack of trust or dissatisfaction with the overall quality of HKU faculty.

The source said Zhang had always been critical of the quality of staff, often suggesting only a handful were talented and the rest were mediocre.

It appeared that Zhang felt that the only way to get people who were good enough was for him to take more control, the person said.

HKU leader ‘needs to persuade’

Some have said that Zhang’s working style might be related to his background and previous experience as a laboratory chief.

Born in Nanjing, he obtained his first degree in China before moving to the US at 25 for graduate studies. He then joined academia and rose to become a mechanical engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Before joining HKU, he was director of the materials science division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and best known for leading the team that created the world’s first “invisibility cloak”.

One source said: “When you run a laboratory, you have a lot of authority and you don’t really need too much discussion with other people.”

Leading HKU, with 10 faculties and almost 36,400 students, was vastly different and “very complicated”.

“The strength of HKU – and the difficulty – is that so many different people have so much power in their own units. You need to persuade others to follow your vision,” the source said.

Zhang might have been frustrated by university structures, procedures, protocols and the limits on his power as president, the source said.

He also seemed less of a people person than his predecessor Mathieson, who was often spotted eating in student canteens and spent many nights dining with different stakeholders.

HKU staff described Zhang as somewhat more aloof, and less keen to spend time meeting different groups of people.

His absence at such events became so conspicuous that it gave rise to an insider joke that his “invisibility cloak” really worked.

Some said the president also did not try to understand or learn about HKU’s various faculties and a rift with the medical school – which secured the most external funding – became most apparent.

A source from the medical faculty said Zhang did not grasp its role in training the next generation of doctors, and emphasised the need for research excellence, an essential factor in boosting HKU’s rankings.

“Coming from an engineering background and an institution that did not have a medical faculty, he failed to appreciate the special role of the medical school,” the academic said.

The Post approached chairwoman Wong, HKU and Zhang’s office for comment. Zhang did not respond to the request for an interview.

In a recent dialogue with Yazhou Zhoukan magazine, Zhang outlined his plan to bring in 100 outstanding academics through a global search and said half had arrived already.

He also pledged to cut red tape so that academics could focus on research. Conceding there were difficulties introducing change, he said HKU “maintained lots of colonial traditions”.

“We have launched reforms over the past five years to boost efficiency and refresh the school, otherwise we cannot retain talent even if we attract them,” he said.

Among the top scholars he brought in was Professor Fraser Stoddart, a Nobel laureate who joined HKU last month as chair professor of chemistry.

The British-American scholar was a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University in the US when he was approached by HKU in late January. He received a job offer in March.

Stoddart hoped the university council would ignore the accusations against Zhang, warning that “petty politics” would destroy HKU.

He praised Zhang for being “highly proactive” in recruiting overseas scholars and his ability to speed up processes, and played down concerns about heeding established protocols.

Stoddart had told the Post earlier that “if you follow due process, and if you follow the rules of the day, then you achieve nothing”.

Long way to end of Zhang’s term

For now, it appears that the controversy over the HKU president is not likely to be resolved any time soon.

Aside from requesting the help of lawyers, Zhang has asked Julian Law Wing-chung to handle his public relations. Law ran the chief executive election campaign for ex-financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and now has his own communications firm.

It is understood that the council has also sought legal advice from Senior Counsel Benjamin Yu.

Some observers believe that despite the accusations hurled at him, Zhang still had the upper hand.

With the extension of his appointment, he has his job until 2028. Council chairwoman Wong’s first three-year term is until the end of next year and after the high-profile row, she might face opposition having her term extended.

City leader John Lee, who is HKU chancellor and appoints the council chair, had asked the university to sort out the dispute itself, merely saying a fair and independent probe would be best.

Casey Chik Yau-hong, a student representative on the council, declined to comment on the row, but hoped it would not hurt HKU’s reputation.

“The dynamics behind the turmoil are so complex that no one can predict its result,” he said.

Others hoped the episode would prompt Zhang to reflect on his governance style.

“The president enjoys great power. He should be particularly humble with his great power,” said a source who previously held a senior university position. “It will be best to convince others properly because after all, internal politics in all universities are complicated.”

Additional reporting by William Yiu, Kahon Chan and Elizabeth Cheung