Nearly 3,400 people jointly oppose the two universities' dismissal of Shao Jiazhen and Dai Yaoting, saying they are concerned about the suppression of academic freedom

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Written by: Chen Jiayi

2020-08-15 16:47

A total of 3,393 people from the academic and professional sectors have co-signed to oppose HKBU’s social work lecturer Shao Jiazhen’s refusal to renew his contract for participating in the 2014 Occupy Central movement, and HKU’s dismissal of the associate professor of the law department accused of inciting public nuisance for the Occupy Movement Dai Yaoting.

The groups and scholars that initiated the joint signature believed that the two universities' actions violated procedural justice and did not conform to the UN's recommendations for higher education faculty members, and worried that academic freedom would be suppressed.

The academic and professional circles jointly opposed the renewal of the contract of the lecturer Shao Jiazhen of the Department of Social Work of HKBU, and the dismissal of the associate professor of the Department of Law of the University of Hong Kong Dai Yaoting. (Photo by Liao Yanxiong)

Promote the abolition of the Chief Executive as the Supervisor of the University

The academic and professional circles initiated a joint signature in early August to oppose HKBU’s social work lecturer Shao Jiazhen’s refusal to renew his contract for participating in the 2014 Occupy Central movement, and the dismissal of the University of Hong Kong’s dismissal of Dai Yaoting, associate professor of the law department who was accused of inciting public nuisance for the Occupy Movement. , A total of 3,393 co-signatures were collected. The joint sign urged the two universities to withdraw their decision to dismiss the two, demanding the abolition of the chief executive’s appointment as school superintendent and the appointment of university council and school committee chairpersons by the chief executive.

The groups and scholars who initiated the co-signature believed that the two universities violated procedural justice. The representative of the Academic Freedom Scholars Alliance and the Associate Professor of the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Science and Technology became famous, saying that the academic world cannot accept the university's decision. Shao Jiazhen is appealing the case to the court. The internal investigation and appeal of the Baptist University's internal investigation and appeal failed to dismiss Shao Jiazhen.

In addition, the University of Hong Kong initiated the dismissal procedure before Dai Yaoting’s appeal of the case was completed. After investigation, the Academic Affairs Committee composed of professors and students in the school decided to dismiss without sufficient reasons, and was overturned by the School Affairs Committee composed of outsiders appointed by the government. The convener of the HKU Alumni Concern Group, Ye Jianyuan, believes that this is the same as the case when Professor Chen Wenmin of the Faculty of Law was rejected as the vice-principal. The administrative power of the school committee overrides the board of education, reflecting that the autonomy of the school is at stake. He expressed strong indignation and condemn.

The representative of the Academic Freedom Scholars Alliance became famous that the incident was not only about two scholars, but a reflection of scholars facing political repression. (Photo by Liao Yanxiong)

HKUST's rise to fame: Recently it is difficult for universities to hire overseas scholars

The academic circles pointed out that according to UNESCO’s recommendations, higher education teachers can only be dismissed when they violate professional ethics, such as forging scientific research results. Fame believes that the incident is not only about the two scholars, but reflects that scholars face political repression, and academic freedom is damaged. He criticized Li Guozhang, chairman of the University Committee of the University of Hong Kong, in responding to the incident, saying that Dai Yaoting was ignorant of breaking the law, ignoring the notion of civil disobedience and peaceful means.

As an Associate Professor of the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Science and Technology of China, Fame said that the University of Science and Technology and other local universities have recently had difficulty in hiring overseas scholars to teach in Hong Kong. He pointed out that the government has suppressed academic freedom and that it is difficult to attract overseas talents in the long run, which hinders Hong Kong's economic development and governance. He mentioned that the number of people who participated in the co-signing was large, but some scholars were reluctant to co-sign with their real names due to political concerns.

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Education Association: Teachers' self-censorship is worried about touching the red line

Feng Weihua, president of the Education Association, said that after the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, some teachers worried about touching the red line and self-censorship in research and teaching. Cai Baoqiong, former associate professor of the School of Education of CUHK, believes that this phenomenon is very unhealthy for university education and damages the quality of teaching. University education should not be subject to political regulation. Chen Yanya, a senior lecturer at CUHK, reported that some teachers are worried that students discussing Hong Kong independence in class, whether teachers also violate the National Security Law, and whether they should interfere with student discussions, etc., will cause trouble to teachers.

I was asked that after the anti-revision movement, scholars faced more similar incidents, and the fame means that scholars mainly held press conferences to publish research during the movement. They did not think similar incidents would occur. If they did, it would shock the international community.

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Dai Yaoting laments that the university cannot keep academic freedom and the president dare to tell the truth

The University of Hong Kong speculates Dai Yaoting丨The faculty will question the political interference that prompted Zhang Xiang to explain why he did not vote

Yang Runxiong said that the government did not participate in the Hong Kong University's dismissal of Dai Yaoting and will leave the school for National Security Education Curriculum Guidelines

Regarding the dismissal of Dai Yaoting by the University of Hong Kong, Li Guozhang, the chairman of the school committee, pointed out last month that the decision was made in accordance with procedures and does not involve any political considerations. The University of Hong Kong does not allow criminals to serve as faculty members; but said that if Dai succeeds in appealing to the court, the alumni will review the dismissal decision.

As for the dismissal of Shao Jiazhen, HKBU stated that it will handle all contract matters in accordance with established policies and procedures; the school stated that it will not disclose the details of individual cases for privacy reasons.

Education Association Shao Jiazhen Dai Yaoting