Hong Kong social scientist from pollster group Pori flees city, citing ‘threats from powerful bodies’, fear of ‘moving red lines’
- Chung Kim-wah, deputy executive director of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, says there is ‘no room for sincere words’ in home city
- He was last year questioned by police over his group’s involvement with an unofficial opposition primary
Outspoken social scientist Chung Kim-wah has revealed that he fled Hong Kong on Sunday night because “threats from powerful bodies” and fears over crossing “moving red lines” had made continuing his work in the city too difficult.
Chung, deputy executive director of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (Pori), announced his decision on Facebook, saying he was on his way to Britain and would “live abroad for a while”.
“There is no room for sincere words in today’s Hong Kong. It only allows lies. For those pedantic academics like me, Hong Kong is probably not a place where you can live normally without intimidation,” he wrote in the post, which also included two pictures taken at the airport.
“For deciding not to be dominated by fear and to live a normal life and do my job for several years, I have received threats and endless trouble from powerful bodies,” he said.
Pori president Robert Chung Ting-yiu said his colleague would continue to serve as an honorary director at the institute upon leaving his current position at the end of April.
Asked whether the departure would affect Pori’s operations, Robert Chung said his colleague would continue to participate in the organisation’s press conferences and help with a “social lives observation project”.