CUHK students told to remove 'illegal' poster

Chinese University has told its student union to take down a promotional poster showing protest slogans along with images of its presidents, warning the material could be illegal and tarnish the its reputation.

The poster was run on Wednesday on the student union's Facebook page to promote events, including a photo exhibition, commemorating what it called "the siege of CUHK" anniversary.

The campus became a battleground last November when protesters set up barriers at entrances to deter police and officers besieged them in return.

CUHK president Rocky Tuan Sung-chi and former president Joseph Sung Jao-yiu attempted to negotiate with protesters and police to ease the tension.

Photos of the two were on the poster, alongside black-clad demonstrators in protest gear, waving a "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" flag.

Hours after it was published, the university released a statement demanding the poster be modified or removed, saying: "It is suspected to have broken the law and used profile photos improperly."

It also said last November's events had resulted from protesters' "irresponsible behavior that had endangered lives."

"We are extremely regretful that the exhibition's host has presented a biased portrayal of the incident," it said, adding that the management had the right to prohibit any improper events from being held on campus. CUHK Campus Radio said university management contacted the union less than an hour after the poster was uploaded. The union said it had refused to do so.

Separately, three local universities saw their rankings drop on the Times Higher Education's latest World Reputation Rankings, a list based on surveys asking scholars to name universities they considered prestigious.

University of Hong Kong, which ranked 44th last year, slipped to the 51-60 tier. University of Science and Technology dropped by one tier to 91-100, while Chinese University fell to 101-125 from 91-100.

mandy.zheng@singtaonewscorp.com