Zhang may be locked out of council meeting due to conflict of interest

Staff reporter

University of Hong Kong president and vice chancellor Zhang Xiang may not be allowed to attend the governing council's special meeting today due to allegations against him, according to sources.

It is understood that Zhang may also not be allowed to bring his lawyer to the meeting despite his request.

This came as renowned HKU chemistry professor and Nobel Prize winner Fraser Stoddart said the allegations against Zhang are like a "storm in a teacup."

Stoddart, the 2016 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, defended Zhang - a Chinese-American engineer and physicist - against allegations he hired a US headhunter agency to search for HKU's vice president and medical dean, without going through a tendering process.

"I think organizations often have small windows to attract top talent and if they follow the rules and use Google search, they may lose the desired individuals," Stoddart said in an open letter.

"Speed is of the essence. It has to happen literally in hours. Not days, not weeks, not months. It has to happen in hours and things are not [working] at HKU."

When asked if the controversy may affect overseas scholars' opinions about academic freedom at HKU, Stoddart felt that international academia does not pay attention to the university's internal affairs.

"This is a little storm in a teacup in a very localized situation. The rest of the world doesn't [care]," he said.

Stoddart went on to express deep concern and sadness over recent attacks and attempts to besmirch Zhang's character.

"I would like to affirm my unfettered and unequivocal support for Zhang, his character, his leadership and his resolve to bring forward transformative reforms to HKU and the city of Hong Kong," Stoddart said.

Stoddart recalled that he chose to leave Britain and go to the United States in 1997 due to "the culture of incessant attacks and lack of support" in British academia. He felt American academia, by contrast, shared a culture of encouraging one another.

"I appeal to those who have attacked Zhang to reflect on their actions and work together to make HKU a better place, as opposed to enmeshing it in further squabbles and vitriol," he said.

Stoddart said the HKU council should neglect the whistleblower's complaints and said he doubted the authenticity of the allegations. He added: "Anonymous letters and e-mails are not worth listening to, much of which are probably fabricated/"

Ma Yi, head of the computer science department, also publicly supported Zhang.

"I have worked closely with him in the past nine months and have witnessed him work as a true leader with vision, passion and resolution," he wrote in a letter to HKU council members.

Echoing Stoddart, Ma raised suspicions on the whistleblower's motives as unverified or confidential information had quickly spread to the media and the public.

"I pledge to you to handle this matter with utmost caution and confidentiality. Investigate and punish those who acted irresponsibly and leaked information on purpose," Ma said.

Council chairwoman Priscilla Wong Pui-sze on Thursday called for a special meeting after receiving several anonymous complaint e-mails in late September. The meeting was adjourned to today as a number of council members had failed to attend.