As calls for the city’s independence grow, so do attacks on free speech — including by the best local universities.
Hong Kong’s universities reopened in September to a small on-campus fracas that soon ignited into a virulent controversy about the future of the most basic freedoms in the territory.
It started when a student from mainland China at Chinese University of Hong Kong tore down posters calling for the city’s independence from the so-called Democracy Wall, a space for free expression under the management of a student union. The university’s president, previously thought to be liberal-leaning, asked for the signs’ removal, suggesting that the very notion of independence was illegal under Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law.
Yet, Article 27 of the Basic Law stipulates, among other things, that “Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication.”
Student unions on other campuses objected, and more posters went up. Leonard Cheng, the president of the liberal arts Lingnan University, said that independence was an appropriate topic of academic discussion — but also that “we will absolutely disallow advocacy on Hong Kong independence.”
The China-owned newspaper Wen Hui Pao then criticized Mr. Cheng, calling him irresponsible and an appeaser, and urged local universities to ban talk of independence. The next day, 10 universities issued a joint statement saying, “We treasure freedom of expression, but we condemn its recent abuses,” adding that independence “contravenes the Basic Law.”
Soon after, Wang Zhimin, the new head of the Central Liaison Office, Beijing’s formal representation in Hong Kong, said during a ceremony marking the founding of the People’s Republic of China, “All Chinese people including over 7 million Hong Kong people have ‘zero tolerance’ to the ‘Hong Kong independence’ notion.”
Beijing bristled, and the chancellors bowed.
More and more of Hong Kong’s elite is caving to increasing pressure from China. Business magnates, current and former government officials, prominent professors trained in the West, religious leaders, media owners, celebrities and even barristers who once advocated democracy for Hong Kong are denouncing calls for independence, sometimes viciously.
They tend to invoke patriotism to explain their embrace of Beijing’s political preferences, but their realignment often brings material benefits.
Some Hong Kong celebrities like the kung fu film star Jackie Chan have abruptly become patriotic.
