Clear the air on Tuan's future

Eric Ng Shu-pui was considered a right-hand man of Chinese University of Hong Kong vice-chancellor Rocky Tuan Sung-chi.

His sacking by the CUHK Council - with immediate effect - as a vice-president and university secretary is generally believed to have dealt a blow to Tuan, who has been at the center of a political row since the 2019 anti-government protests during which CUHK was one of the major battlefields.

Ng condemned the decision and denounced the council for not giving him a chance to appear before it to defend himself against the accusations.

According to council chairman John Chai Yat-chiu, Ng had allegedly failed to observe political neutrality and bypassed him in relation to two incidents that irritated him and other council members. Ng's departure following 16 years of service at CUHK was all but sealed.

The broader attention is now focused on Tuan, Ng's boss. What will happen to him?

Reporters were smart enough to quickly ask Chai whether Tuan would be the next to receive the boot.

Since the Legislative Council passed a controversial member's bill to reform the university council to drastically slash the representation of university academics and staff at the top body, it had been expected that peace would return to CUHK after many months of attacks on the vice-chancellor threatened to undermine the university's prestigious image.

But instead of clearing the air, Chai's open-ended reply to the media question reignited speculation.

Chai could have easily given a simple and direct answer to put to rest any speculation over the future of the vice-chancellor. Instead, he chose not to do so by stating to the media that council meeting agenda was confidential.

Even worse, similarly non-committal replies by three lawmakers sitting on the university council reinforced concerns that the newly set-up council would meet sooner or later to decide the vice-chancellor's fate.

Tuan's term - which had been extended unexpectedly ahead of schedule by a former council led by Chai's predecessor - is expected to last until the end of 2026.

But the question asked most often now that Ng has been sacked is: can Tuan survive to finish the contract?

In the interest of the university, the council must clear the air - and the sooner the better.

Speculation does nobody any good, including those teaching and studying at CUHK, which is regarded as one of the city's most prestigious higher education institutions.

Perhaps coincidentally, former CUHK vice-chancellor Joseph Sung Jao-yiu and former University of Hong Kong vice-chancellor Peter Mathieson also ended their terms prematurely after they appeared at a 2014 protest to talk with student protesters.

Sung left CUHK early in 2017 even though his second term would have allowed him to remain in office until 2018.

Mathieson tendered his resignation in February 2017, two years before his contract was supposed to expire.

He left HKU in January 2018.