Explaining the fuss over the University of Hong Kong’s appointment of two mainland Chinese scholars to key posts

Professors Max Shen and Gong Peng will be vice-presidents, but critics have taken aim at a former listing of Shen as a Communist Party member

Candidates for senior management positions have always come under political scrutiny at city’s oldest university

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The University of Hong Kong in Pok Fu Lam. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:00am, 28 Oct 2020Updated: 8:00am, 28 Oct 2020

The University of Hong Kong, the city’s oldest tertiary institution, is no stranger to controversies. HKU has been embroiled in political rows in recent years, the latest being the appointment of two academics from Beijing’s Tsinghua University, with one previously listed as a Communist Party member.

The HKU governing council confirmed the appointment of professors Max Shen Zuojun and Gong Peng as vice-presidents at a meeting on Tuesday evening, against calls by the student union and some alumni to reconsider the move amid concerns over academic freedoms.

The fears reflect growing scepticism in Hong Kong’s polarised society towards mainland Chinese authorities, with critics arguing Beijing is increasingly encroaching on the city’s autonomy.

Shen was listed on Tsinghua’s website as a Communist Party member, but that title was removed from the page last Thursday.

The University of California, Berkeley, however, where both academics also hold positions, said in a reply to the Post on Tuesday that Shen had “voluntarily shared with us that statements saying he is a member of the Communist Party are incorrect”.

Other political situations HKU has found itself mired in include the emergence of banners and posters on campus advocating Hong Kong’s separation from the mainland, especially at the height of anti-government protests last year, a controversy over the governing council’s rejection of liberal scholar Johannes Chan Man-mun from a key management post, and a chaotic siege by student leaders of a council meeting in 2015.