John Lee tells education officials to ‘learn more’ about University of Hong Kong council tensions as city has ‘high expectations’

City leader John Lee orders Education Bureau to look into apparent power struggle at University of Hong Kong after recent row over surprise senior appointments

Reshuffle last week has prompted president Xiang Zhang to seek legal advice after being kept in dark about move by council chairwoman Priscilla Wong, sources say

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Chief Executive John Lee also serves as the University of Hong Kong’s chancellor. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 1:52pm, 4 Jun 2024Updated: 9:07pm, 4 Jun 2024

Hong Kong’s leader has told education officials to look into an apparent power struggle at the city’s top university, saying he has “high expectations” about its governance.

A surprise reshuffle of senior management at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) thrust the institution back into the spotlight last week, with sources revealing president Xiang Zhang was seeking legal advice after he was kept in the dark about the move reportedly orchestrated by governing council chairwoman Priscilla Wong Pui-sze.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who also serves as the university’s chancellor, said on Tuesday the Education Bureau would report back to him after looking into the latest row.

“HKU is a successful university that belongs to Hong Kong. [The city’s residents] and I myself, of course, have high expectations of good governance in HKU,” he said.

“I have tasked the Education Bureau to learn more about what is happening, they will report to me and then I shall discuss with them about the way forward.”

The Post earlier reported the council had voted in a meeting last week to endorse the appointment of several interim vice-president positions without consulting Zhang, in a move that broke with tradition.

The decision effectively demoted Zhang’s right-hand man, deputy vice-chancellor Richard Wong Yue-chim, who had been serving as interim provost since 2019.