Hong Kong University class boycott continues amid anger over interference
Protest follows controversy over appointment of Arthur Li Kwok-cheung as the governing council’s chairman
About 100 students continued to support a class boycott for a second day at the University of Hong Kong, with many calling for an escalation of the campaign.
They gathered at the university’s Pok Fu Lam campus to attend a forum discussing changes to the governing council, which has been criticised for inviting political interference in academic freedom.
The campaign came after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s much-opposed decision to appoint a highly controversial figure, former education minister Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, as the council’s chairman, despite calls for him to reconsider the move.
The appointment happened after the council’s equally controversial decision to reject the promotion of a pro-democracy law professor, Johannes Chan Man-mun, to a key managerial post.
READ MORE: Li says he accepted University of Hong Kong post ‘to avert anarchy and mob rule’
The boycott, which is set to last at least one week, aims to force the council to form a committee to review the council structure. Students question whether the chief executive should continue to be the university’s chancellor by default, whether he should have the power to appoint council members and whether members appointed from inside the university should account for at least half of council members.
