Master’s course for Hong Kong administrative talent at elite Tsinghua University sparks concern over pro-Beijing bias
While some welcome programme as useful for bridging understanding across borders, critics say it may lead to more pro-Beijing members in city’s administration
More than half of students in China’s first executive master’s programme to groom administrative talent for Hong Kong are members or associates of the city’s pro-establishment political bloc, prompting questions about diversity and self-selection.
Launched in September by the school of public policy and management at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, a top mainland tertiary institution, the executive master’s of public administration (EMPA) programme promises to equip Hong Kong’s future administrative talents with an in-depth understanding of governance on both sides of the border.
They also had to take a written test on the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution and the governing principle of “one country, two systems”, under which Hong Kong was granted a high degree of autonomy by Beijing since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.
Maxine Yao, one of the students and a member of middle-of-the-road political group Path of Democracy, said candidates were each given a copy of the Basic Law during the test.