HKU saga 'shows Beijing's respect for HK autonomy'

Staff Reporter

The central government's silence on the conflict between the president and chairwoman of the governing council at the University of Hong Kong indicates Beijing's respect for Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, says pro-Beijing figure Lo Man-tuen.

In an editorial in a Chinese newspaper yesterday, the former vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese said Beijing has taken a prudent stance despite its concerns.

"HKU is a leader in tertiary education and an important platform for gathering international high-end talents. Central authorities, experts and scholars are concerned about the HKU saga," Lo said. "But Beijing has not openly expressed its opinion as the university's governance is within the purview of Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy. Central authorities do not want to create an impression of interfering with it."

Lo said Beijing would like to see the SAR government resolve the HKU conflict in an appropriate manner.

"After the implementation of the National Security Law, there were overseas sentiments saying that Hong Kong's autonomy is no longer respected," Lo said.

"But the resolution of the HKU saga clearly shows the central government is extremely respectful of Hong Kong's autonomy."

Lo also praised Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who "as chancellor of the university, personally supervised the resolution of the saga, which was key to appropriately solving the problem."

Apart from an investigation, a study group was set up to settle the conflict between HKU president Zhang Xiang and governing council chairwoman Priscilla Wong Pui-sze.

After some 60 meetings with stakeholders and reviews of relevant documents, the group came up with a "win-win" proposal for Zhang and Wong, which was fully accepted in the governing universal council meeting on Tuesday.