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Carrie Lam pictured during a trip to Cambridge. Photo: Facebook

National security law: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam cuts ties with University of Cambridge’s Wolfson College

  • Lam accuses Wolfson College’s president of spreading groundless allegations about her in relation to the national security law
  • City leader rescinds her honorary fellowship after Professor Jane Clarke said last month that the college would consider Lam’s position

Hong Kong’s leader has rescinded her honorary fellowship from the University of Cambridge’s Wolfson College, severing ties from an institution she accuses of peddling groundless allegations about her.

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor issued the snub after the British college expressed concerns last month over her role in the national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in June.

The latest edition of her register of interests showed that her Wolfson College title had been crossed out.

Hong Kong leader demands international respect for the national security law

On Saturday night, Lam said on her Facebook page that she had written to the college a day earlier to relinquish her fellowship after cancelling her United States visa.

She said the president of Wolfson College had previously informed her in a letter that an unknown individual had demanded the revocation of her title, which she was given in 2017.

The chief executive said she believed the college president had been under pressure from British politicians, the media and other groups since Hong Kong’s anti-government protests sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill erupted last year.

Lam said she wrote to the president at the end of last year so the college could have a grasp of “the truth of Hong Kong”.

“The president again wrote to me last week, saying the college believes I have deviated from the principle of academic freedom and freedom of speech, penalised teachers who had criticised the government, banned students from singing and chanting slogans at school and enforced the national security law outside Hong Kong,” her post read.

Describing the accusations as “groundless”, she slammed the president saying she had failed to present any proof despite stating she was in possession of reliable evidence.

It is difficult to convince myself to maintain ties with Wolfson College. Therefore I return the title of honorary fellowship
Carrie Lam

Lam said the college had admitted to her that such evidence was based on what they “heard” and “what was reported”, adding she was disappointed how the school could slander someone through hearsay.

She said she delivered rebuttals over issues such as academic freedom in the city’s universities, the arrests of students and “how the UK also enjoys the power of exercising related national security law outside its jurisdiction”.

“It is difficult to convince myself to maintain ties with Wolfson College. Therefore I return the title of honorary fellowship,” Lam said.

Wolfson is one of the 31 colleges making up the University of Cambridge. Photo: Facebook

A statement from the college said: “The governing body raised concerns with Mrs Carrie Lam about her commitment to the protection of human rights and the freedom of expression in Hong Kong following recent events there. In response, Mrs Lam has resigned from her honorary fellowship.

“The governing body was due to consider Mrs Lam’s honorary fellowship early next month but will no longer do so.”

US sanctions Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam for ‘policies of suppression’

Professor Jane Clarke, the president of Wolfson College, issued a statement on July 1 to express concerns over the new legislation, which targets crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign and external forces to endanger national security.

“Wolfson College strongly supports the protection of human rights and the freedom of expression of all its members. Accordingly, it is deeply concerned by recent events in Hong Kong following the enactment of the national security law,” it read. “The governing body will be considering Mrs Lam’s position as an honorary fellow of the college.”

Carrie Lam has delivered a stinging broadside to Wolfson College’s president. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

A group called Cambridge Stands with Hong Kong, made up of Cambridge students and alumni from the city, said it welcomed the news that Lam had removed her fellowship title, but urged Wolfson College to clarify whether it had been revoked.

“Cambridge Stands with Hong Kong looks forward to the Wolfson statement on Mrs Lam’s status that was supposed to be delivered last month,” the statement read.

According to the college, honorary fellowships are awarded to persons of distinction whom the college holds in high standing. Lam, who completed a programme for senior government administrators there in 1982, was given her honorary fellowship in 2017.

05:50

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Over the past two years, groups, lawmakers and individuals have been urging the college to remove her title.

Last year, three British lawmakers wrote to both the college and Cambridge University calling on the institution to do so.

They accused the city’s leader of “incompetence and [an] aggressive approach in handling the anti-extradition protests.”

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The Donald Trump administration last week imposed economic sanctions on 11 local and mainland Chinese officials, including Lam, as part of a series of measures designed to punish Beijing for the sweeping security law it imposed on the city this summer.

The US Treasury Department singled out Lam for “implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes,” citing her role last year in attempting to pass an extradition law and, more recently, her involvement in “developing, adopting or implementing” the national security law.

Lam described the sanctions “shameless and despicable” and said her administration would not be intimidated.

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