Commissioner of Police Chris Tang has slammed televised comments by an Education University lecturer that he called ‘hostile to the police force’. Photo: Nora Tam
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https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3081804/hong-kong-police-chief-tells-university-look-lecturers Law and Crime
Hong Kong police chief tells university to look into lecturer’s televised comments slamming force’s protest performance
- Sam Choi had blasted use of tear gas and compared protest scenes to Tiananmen Square crackdown
- The four-minute appearance once again put public broadcaster RTHK at odds with both police and the Communications Authority
Education University lecturer Sam Choi’s comments on an RTHK programme in November have drawn the wrath of the city’s police chief and were condemned by the Communications Authority’s watchdog. Photo: RTHK
Hong Kong police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung has written to the Education University demanding the institution “seriously follow up” on televised comments by a lecturer, who argued the force had caused a “humanitarian crisis” with its handling of the anti-government protests last year.
The letter, sent to university president Stephen Cheung Yan-leung on Friday, followed the Communications Authority watchdog ruling earlier that week, that lecturer Sam Choi Chun-wai’s remarks on a November RTHK programme were unfair to police and could be considered hate speech.
In his letter, Commissioner of Police Tang expressed regret that Choi had made a speech “hostile to the police force” in his capacity as a lecturer at the university’s Department of Asian and Policy Studies.
“As the head of the university, for the well-being of your students, I hope you can seriously follow up on the incident and ensure your teachers’ conduct is professional,” Tang wrote.
Tang also cited the watchdog’s conclusion that Choi’s comments were irresponsible and could damage the reputation of the force.
The Communications Authority investigated the incident after receiving 347 complaints over the episode of “Pentaprism”, in which Choi spent about four minutes offering his views on the protest movement that rocked Hong Kong beginning in June last year.
On April 20, the watchdog ruled that Choi’s remarks were “apparently based on distorted, inaccurate information or personal opinions on the internet” and that he did not make clear the sources of information. It added it had “seriously warned” RTHK, the city’s public broadcaster, to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the TV Programme Code.
As the head of the university, for the well-being of your students, I hope you can seriously follow up on the incident and ensure your teachers’ conduct is professional
RTHK has since removed videos of the speech from its platforms, saying it respected the watchdog’s decision.
Choi did not respond to requests for comments on Monday.
In a statement, the university said: “We confirm receipt of the letter. As always, the university will handle cases in accordance with its established mechanism and procedures.”
Kris Wong Wing-ki, president of the provisional executive council of the Education University’s student union, said Choi should not be penalised because of his comments.
“There should be different voices in the community. As one of the disciplined services, the force should try to listen to the public’s opinion humbly, instead of pointing fingers at those who stand up and criticise them,” Wong said.
She added she believed Choi’s opinion was based on legitimate news reports, and not fabricated or made up.
Just last month, public broadcaster RTHK was forced to defend an episode of it satirical news programme ‘Headliner’ after Hong Kong’s police chief took issue with jokes made at the force’s expense. Photo: Dickson Lee
“We believe academic freedom should be protected at universities and there should be diverse views at universities,” she said.
Pro-democracy lawmakers were also up in arms, with Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung criticising Tang for being a “bully” by interfering with academic freedom and the freedom of press, saying his behaviour was “unacceptable”.
Hui’s party colleague, lawmaker James To Kun-sun, urged the Education University to respect its staff’s freedom of speech, saying it would be sad should the city’s universities become places where those freedoms are restricted.
During the “Pentaprism” episode in question, Choi hit out at police for what he called the “bloody” sieges of Chinese University and Polytechnic University campuses during the social unrest, citing the large amount of tear gas fired at protesters.
“The sieges are very serious humanitarian disasters. The police have madly fired 2,000 rounds of tear gas at Chinese University,” he said, adding that the streets of Hong Kong resembled the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
In March, police complained to the Communications Authority about another RTHK programme they said had “undermined” the force’s work and threatened an “erosion of law and order”.
Police chief Tang issued a letter to Leung Ka-wing, the broadcaster’s chief, expressing his grievance with the satirical news show “Headliner”, which mocked the alleged stockpiling of protection gear by members of the force amid a citywide shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic.
RTHK defended the show, saying it reflected different views in society and arguing it was “quite unlikely for any reasonable person” to conclude the comedy sketches were serious news.