Occupy co-founder Chan Kin-man wonders whether Chinese people need to live in authoritarian society in farewell lecture days before he is due to stand trial
- Social scientist leaves Chinese University with three-hour talk, but vows to continue study into mainland social issues
- Scholar is facing years in jail over role in civil disobedience movement
Some 700 people crammed into a Chinese University hall designed for just 500 to listen to Chan Kin-man deliver his last lecture before he stands trial for his role in the Occupy movement.
Despite highlighting the uncertainty that lies ahead for his family, the social scientist said he would not back away from seeking to answer the question that has defined his academic career: why is mainland Chinese society still dominated by authoritarianism?
Students use graduation ceremony for protest against activist jailings
As local and overseas scholars, activists, students past and present watched on, the co-founder of the large-scale civil disobedience movement in 2014 covered a range of topics in his three-hour talk, ultimately leaving questions unanswered on the future of Hong Kong and the mainland.
Chan goes to court on Monday and faces the prospect of spending years in jail if found guilty, but has vowed to continue his study into the mainland, because China’s status “is indispensable to Hong Kong’s future”.
“I want to know why, after thousands of years, mainland China remains an authoritarian society,” Chan said. “And why we have failed to build a civil society on the mainland, and why intellectuals still see serving the ruler as their ideal, instead of being independent and critical voices.