The Chinese University of Hong Kong, which once enjoyed greater freedom of expression, has issued a warning to the newly elected Student Union Officers’ Council since the university issued a warning that its election manifesto allegedly advocates breaking the law and prohibits cabinet representatives from participating in university affairs, and may even expel cabinet members from school. In addition to facing pressure from the university, members of the cabinet may face jail Time, and some members and their families received “death threats”, so they had to resign and bowed to their supporters. The president of the board, Lin Ruiyuan, is worried that the pressure from the regime will come to other universities.
CUHK responded with a statement in the evening, saying it was “very sorry” that the council had made inaccurate statements, stressing that there was no intention or intent to “intimidate” and “isolate” the Student Union Council or any other student organizations. The statement was made to protect the interests of the University and all students; the statement continued that it absolutely respects academic and freedom of speech, but must abide by the law when expressing their views.
University students are at the forefront of the 2019 anti-revision campaign, causing discontent in Beijing. In the meantime, CUHK has been called a “riotous (university)” and has been criticized by the pro-China media for condoning “thugs” and urging the university to “deal with them seriously”. The student union’s manifesto for the cabinet was also accused by the university of allegedly breaking the law and asked “Sakuya” to revise the manifesto or withdraw from the election. In its manifesto, “Sakuya” criticized that “national security” is a political means of totalitarian and oppressive rule, and that the cabinet will promote local Culture, consolidate the sense of community, and do everything possible to fight against the unjust regime. The manifesto also criticized the university for bowing to the regime, actively pandering to it, and calling the police to arrest students.
The “Sakuya” did not withdraw from the election and was elected with 3,984 votes of confidence on the 24th of last month, with a turnout of more than 23%, a new high since the Umbrella Movement in 2014. The university congratulated “Sakuya” on his election, but issued a statement the next day, saying that the university strongly opposed the cabinet’s “Sakuya” declaration of candidacy and its public statements, and has reminded him that his comments against national security may be illegal, and therefore decided to suspend the collection of dues for the student union The university also asked the student union to register as an independent association or company and assume legal responsibility. In the early hours of the 27th, “Sakuya” announced that it had withdrawn its manifesto and platform, and all posts on its Facebook page had disappeared, and its avatar photo had been changed to black.
The storm is not over yet, but the executive committee is expected to exist in name only
Yesterday (1) is the day of the “Soyo” new board of directors, all 12 members of the evening held a press conference on campus, said to the CU Student Union Representative Council resigned, and bowed to the nearly 4,000 “Soyo” vote of confidence in the CU students apologize. The president, Lin Ruiyuan, pointed out that the university had expected the cabinet to withdraw from the election on or before February 28, in order to “press the storm as fine as possible”, otherwise it may affect the Student Union Representative Council and other central student organizations, including the possible withdrawal of the campus radio or student newspaper land. The university has hinted to other student groups that their organizations will be affected if the status of “Sakyamuni” is recognized, Lin said, citing sources from other student representatives.
Lam also revealed that the cabinet members have recently been subject to unprecedented pressure and threats, including members of the Board of Directors and their families have been harassed, and even received “death threats”; in addition, the pressure is no longer just a record of shortcomings or expulsion, “or even decades of imprisonment “Therefore, earlier announced the withdrawal of the election manifesto and platform and other documents, and decided to resign collectively. He stressed that the withdrawal of the documents is not a “deal under the table” with the university, in exchange for recognition. After the withdrawal of the political platform, the public mandate of “Sakyamuni” can be regarded as invalid, so he resigned to show that he is accountable to the 18,000 students of CUHK, not to give in to the senior management of CUHK.
Vice President of External Affairs Luo Ziwei predicted that it would be difficult for CUHK students to talk about democracy and freedom in the future, and they did not want to serve their classmates without autonomy and under the control of the university, so they decided to resign. Lin Ruiyuan believes that under the control of the university, the future council will also exist in name only.
According to CUHK Campus Radio, according to the CUHK Student Union Constitution, the Council will be automatically dissolved and the Council of Representatives will temporarily handle its duties until a new Council is elected.
However, the controversy will not end with the resignation of the Council, as a number of former CUHK Student Union members have signed a petition in response to the university’s statement on the isolation of the Council on the 25th of last month, and as of yesterday evening, more than 4,500 people have signed the petition, including past members of the CUHK Student Union. After being informed of the collective resignation of the “Sokyu”, some CUHK alumni issued a statement in the name of “the initiator of the joint statement of past members of the CUHK Student Union”, saying that they respect the difficult decision made by the Council, and revealed that they would continue to be CUHK alumni and members of the University as stipulated in the Ordinance of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The statement was issued on behalf of the “initiator of a joint statement by past members of the CUHK Student Union”, stating that they respect the difficult decision made by the Council and that they will continue to seek an extraordinary general meeting of the CUHK Alumni Senate to discuss the matter as alumni of CUHK and members of the University as stipulated in the University Ordinance.
After the anti-amendment movement, the student organizations are not in demand, among the eight universities in Hong Kong, only CUHK and PolyU’s student unions have succeeded in forming a bank, and the University of Hong Kong’s student union needs to be re-elected next month due to the abortion.
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