Chinese University of Hong Kong governing council in favour of reform – but stops short of giving full support to controversial proposals

Chinese University of Hong Kong’s governing council has reaffirmed its support for reforms but stopped short of giving its full backing to a controversial proposal by lawmakers to allow external appointees to dominate the body.

The university’s governing body declared its stance at the end of a regular meeting on Tuesday, after a petition in support of an alternative reform proposal gathered almost 1,600 signatures.

The petition was in response to a private members’ bill sponsored by three lawmakers who sit on the governing council as external appointees and are seeking to reduce its size and revamp its membership.

“Reform has been delayed for years. We will actively cooperate with the Legislative Council to promote reform,” council chairman Professor John Chai Yat-chiu said after the meeting.

But he said the governing council still supported a proposal it raised in 2016 and which a university-established task force had endorsed in April.