University of Hong Kong president ‘seeking legal advice’ over surprise senior management reshuffle

HKU council voted to endorse appointment of several interim vice-president positions, without consulting president Xiang Zhang, the Post understands

Source close to Zhang says university president is ‘seeking legal advice on proper procedures for selecting candidates’ and has raised prospect of judicial review

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Tensions between HKU’s president and the head of the university council surfaced last year. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:47pm, 29 May 2024Updated: 12:51pm, 30 May 2024

The head of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) is seeking legal advice after being kept in the dark about a surprise reshuffle of his senior management team by the chairwoman of the school’s governing council, the Post has learned.

Two insiders said the council for the city’s top university voted in a meeting on Tuesday to endorse the appointment of several interim vice-president positions, without consulting president Xiang Zhang beforehand.

The decision effectively demotes Zhang’s right-hand man, deputy vice-chancellor Richard Wong Yue-chim, who has been serving as the school’s interim provost since 2019.

A third source, who is close to the university president, said on Wednesday that Zhang had told the council and its chairwoman, Priscilla Wong Pui-sze, that the reshuffle could face a legal challenge in the form of a judicial review.

“Zhang is seeking legal advice on the proper procedures for selecting the candidates,” the source said. “The vice-chancellor is normally consulted on the names, but Zhang was not even in the know.”

The source said Zhang had already compiled a list of nominees several months ago but failed to reach a consensus with the chairwoman about discussing it with the council.

The list of candidates was completely different from the names approved on Tuesday, the source added.