Academic returned to city in 1993 determined to be part of push for democracyNow, 25 years later, if found guilty he faces a lengthy prison sentence for challenging the Chinese
In 1993, Chan Kin-man returned to Hong Kong as thousands of his fellow countrymen and women left ahead of the city’s handover to China.
The then 34-year-old doctoral student in sociology at Yale University rejected his teacher’s advice to advance his career in the United States, because he saw it as his responsibility to fight for democracy when Hongkongers finally got the chance to rule the city themselves in 1997.
The young scholar joined his alma mater, Chinese University, as an assistant lecturer that year, gradually rose through the ranks over the next 25 years, and became one of the city’s most outspoken scholars on the democratic movement.
He, alongside two other co-founders, faces three charges related to public nuisance. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.
“There are so many uncertainties, and it is impossible to schedule the classes [for the next semester]. I have no choice but to leave early,” Chan told the Post as he started to clear the stacks of books in his office. “But I am very calm.”
Chan used to aspire to become a full professor, who would then strike a balance between teaching, research and social participation. But his grand plan was disrupted soon after he was tenured as an associate professor in the late 1990s, when he received a call from Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, whom he later co-led the Occupy sit-ins with.
However, Chan said his active social participation was only part of the reason he no longer aimed for the professor title.
“I was also unhappy with the rules of the game,” he said, which included overemphasis on publishing articles in top American journals.
