University of Hong Kong plan to enforce student visits to mainland China sends ripples across campus
Undergraduates will have to spend time over the border and overseas as part of their degree under new policy to be phased in by 2022
A policy under which University of Hong Kong undergraduates will spend time on the mainland as part of their degree has sent ripples across the campus amid fears some students will lose out.
The policy, to be introduced in phases until 2022 and which may be mandatory, was revealed by HKU vice-president Professor Ian Holliday at a dinner with the student union on Friday.
While some education figures backed the plan in principle, there were concerns about the impact on students unable to visit the mainland.
Some of the 220 students at the dinner said Holliday told them all undergraduates would have a "mainland experience".
"I was shocked to hear about it," union president Billy Fung Jing-en said. "Our main concern is his wording. He said 'If you don't agree with the policy, then please don't come to HKU'."
But education-sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen and HKU law Professor Simon Young Ngai-man were broadly in favour.
Holliday, a Briton who has been at HKU since 2006, was not available for interview. Through an HKU spokeswoman, he said he would "continue to meet with students for their opinion".
"It is our aim that by 2022, 100 per cent of our students will have the opportunity and a rich choice to have learning experiences outside Hong Kong, at least once overseas and once in the mainland," the spokeswoman said.
The plan, backed by HKU's senate, is understood to have two parts - a "Greater China" stream covering the mainland and possibly Taiwan and Macau, and an international stream for the rest of the world. Activities may include classes, internships, field trips or professional training.
"Whether it will eventually become mandatory will depend on further consultation and deliberation," the spokeswoman said.
On Friday, Holliday said students who may not be able to enter the mainland - such as those denied entry after participating in last year's Occupy protests - would be exempt.
Ip, a pan-democrat, backed the idea of HKU students spending time overseas, but he called for clarification of what a "mainland experience" would mean.
"Whether it should be compulsory is debatable," he said.
Young said the idea would help students understand "one country, two systems". "But there needs to be flexibility … especially for students barred from entering the mainland," he said.
Marcus Lau Yee-ching, 19, a first-year journalism student, said: "I don't know if there's a hidden political agenda behind the … programme.
"Not all students want to go to China; but if there are resources for every student to go overseas, that's a great thing as you can be immersed in a new culture."
In his policy address in January, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying encouraged students to join exchange programmes on the mainland and pledged extra funding for such activities. Other local universities also offer exchanges - Chinese University says it has 230 such voluntary programmes to 30 locations.
The news comes amid intense political debate around HKU. The appointment of controversial Executive Council member Professor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung to HKU's council raised concerns about political interference. Its law department is under scrutiny after academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting helped initiate the Occupy movement, while students recently voted to pull their union out of the Federation of Students.
