Senior Post editor Cliff Buddle assaulted during lecture at HKU

A senior editor at the South China Morning Post was physically assaulted by a man attending his lecture at the University of Hong Kong yesterday and received treatment in hospital.

Cliff Buddle, the Post's special projects editor and an honorary lecturer in media law and ethics at HKU's journalism and media studies centre, was attacked by a 26-year-old mainlander, who claimed to be a student from Tsinghua University in Beijing, witnesses said.

The man, a Putonghua speaker, expressed annoyance at Buddle's use of English instead of Chinese at the university, where most of the teaching is done in English.

"It has been 17 years into Hong Kong's handover. Why is English still used for teaching?" witnesses cited the man as shouting at about 2pm.

Security guards alerted the police, who arrested him on suspicion of common assault. The man was overheard telling police he thought there was "no problem" hitting a foreign teacher.

Buddle was treated for injuries to his hand and chest before being discharged from hospital.

The 50-year-old journalist told how the man kicked him in the chest and injured his hand by hitting it with a hard-cover folder.

"He suddenly walked to the front of the class during my lecture and assaulted me," Buddle said. "There was no discussion."

HKU confirmed the man was not one of its students and vowed to review security arrangements at the Pok Fu Lam campus.

"I am surprised and saddened. It is rare for something like this to happen in Hong Kong," Buddle said.

"I am very grateful to my teaching assistant and students who remained calm and refused to leave until the attacker had been apprehended."

Wang Xiangwei, editor-in-chief of the Post, said: "We condemn this attack on our colleague, Cliff. Violence has no place in the classroom. Police are currently investigating and we trust they will handle the matter appropriately."