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Gary Cheung

Joyce Ng

Student unions across Hong Kong have snubbed an offer from a school that promotes China’s ­democratic development to hold seminars on campuses to discuss the bloody crackdown in ­Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Andrew To Kwan-hang, president of the New School for ­Democracy, said the school had “held four or five sessions in ­different universities every year” since 2012, and that each session drew nearly 30 students.
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“We received no response from any student unions of ­local universities after we proposed talks on June 4 in May,” he added.
To, who was secretary general of the Federation of Students in 1989, attributed the unions’ ­lukewarm response to the rise of localism on campuses at the city’s ­universities.
Representatives of student unions from 11 tertiary institutions boycotted the annual candlelight vigil held in Victoria Park on June 4 to commemorate those killed in the crackdown .
Instead, they organised a ­forum on the same day to discuss the incident’s significance, but there was no session to mourn those killed.
Founded in 2011, the Hong Kong-based New School for ­Democracy is a platform which promotes democratic development in Chinese communities, including the mainland, through academic exchanges .
Wang Dan, one of the student leaders in the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing and who now lives in Taiwan, and Democratic Party lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan are among the directors of the school.
Ernie Chow Shue-fung, president of Chinese University’s student union, said he was not interested in the seminar. Chow held a seminar on June 4 on his campus.
He disagreed with the patriotism emphasised by the organisers of the candlelight vigil, which shared the same vision as the New School for Democracy.
Franco Wong Chak-hang, student union chief of Polytechnic University, said he was not aware of the offer and added it was “not practical to organise a seminar because not many students were on campus at that time”.
Political commentator and ­radio host Poon Siu-to, who has held sharing sessions at secondary schools since 2010, said he had also noticed a growing disinterest in mainland politics among ­pupils in the last two years.


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Student unions in Hong Kong snub offer to host seminars about June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown

Andrew To attributed the unions’ ­lukewarm response to the rise of localism on campuses at the city’s ­universities. Photo: Bruce Yan

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New School for ­Democracy received no responses, despite having hosted four or five sessions a year since 2012 at different universities around the city


Student unions in Hong Kong snub offer to host seminars about June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}New School for ­Democracy received no responses, despite having hosted four or five sessions a year since 2012 at different universities around the city

New School for Democracy received no responses, despite having hosted four or five sessions a year since 2012 at different universities around the city