Top university is on the frontline of battle for democracy

Students and lecturers at Hong Kong’s most prestigious university returned from summer break this month to a very different institution. The Democracy Wall at the University of Hong Kong (better known as HKU) – a pin board where students once shared political thoughts – is gone. The student union, which once advocated for students, is all but defunct, with four of its members facing charges of advocating terrorism, reports CNN.

Although many students and academics were happy to be back on campus – many for the first time since the start of the pandemic – a political chill hangs over the university that some staff say is influencing how they teach. While the Hong Kong government told CNN the city’s universities “continue to enjoy academic freedom”, four current HKU staff who spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity said they are more cautious about what they say in class, afraid that their own students could report them to authorities.

The self-censorship began after June last year when Beijing imposed a controversial and sweeping national security law on the city. Since then, more than 140 people have been arrested under the law, including activists, journalists, politicians and educators, and, of those, 85 have been charged. HKU – the city’s highest-ranked university with more than 30,000 students – can be considered a microcosm of Hong Kong. Some HKU staff say a climate of fear and uncertainty surrounds what constitutes a breach of the law. And they warn that, like the city itself, the freedoms and rights that once set the university apart from those in mainland China are fast in decline.
Full report on the CNN site