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The leadership of the University of Hong Kong may have nearly half of the mainland background to pursue the inward search for the beginning and the end of the Chen Wenmin incident

2020-10-24T00:11:50.934Z


The management of the University of Hong Kong has been constantly changing in recent years. Yesterday, it was reported that two scholars from Tsinghua University were given the position of two vice-presidents by Luo Zhi. Among them, the Tsinghua website listed Shen Zuojun, the dean of the Department of Industrial Engineering, who is also a member of the "Department Party Committee" of the department. attract attention. Although the two also have faculty seats at the University of California, Berkeley, from the outside, they and Zhang Xiang are regarded as connected to the Mainland. If the school committee is appointed, the "mainland" scholars will occupy the central government of Hong Kong. Three of the seven seats in the management team. In the past, the principals of local universities were held by local or overseas Hong Kong people, Taiwanese or foreign scholars. Zhang Xiang was the first "returnee" scholar who grew up in the Mainland and studied abroad to hold such a senior position. Now there are two more "returnees". Either joining the University of Hong Kong, or confirming the fact that the University of Hong Kong has been deterred by many overseas scholars after the "Chen Wenmin Incident" and "waiting for the confession".


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Written by: Deng Yinglin Ni Qingjiang

2020-10-24 08:00

Last update date: 2020-10-24 08:00

The management of the University of Hong Kong has been constantly changing in recent years. Yesterday, it was reported that two scholars from Tsinghua University were given the position of two vice-presidents by Luo Zhi. Among them, the Tsinghua website listed Shen Zuojun, the dean of the Department of Industrial Engineering, who is also a member of the "Department Party Committee" of the department. attract attention.

Although the two also have faculty seats at the University of California, Berkeley, from the outside, they and Zhang Xiang are regarded as connected to the Mainland. If the school committee is appointed, the "mainland" scholars will occupy the central government of Hong Kong. Three of the seven seats in the management team.

In the past, the principals of local universities were held by local or overseas Hong Kong people, Taiwanese or foreign scholars. Zhang Xiang was the first "returnee" scholar who grew up in the Mainland and studied abroad to hold such a senior position. Now there are two more "returnees". Either joining the University of Hong Kong, or confirming the fact that the University of Hong Kong has been deterred by many overseas scholars after the "Chen Wenmin Incident" and "waiting for the confession".

Gong Peng (left), Dean of the Department of Earth System Sciences at Tsinghua University, has the opportunity to take over as the Vice President (Academic Development) of the University of Hong Kong; Shen Zuojun, Dean of the Department of Industrial Engineering of Tsinghua University, will recommend the Vice President (Research) of the University of Hong Kong.

(Online picture)

If the central management team of the University of Hong Kong is appointed, nearly half of them have a mainland background

According to the news, the University of Hong Kong Committee plans to review and appoint Tsinghua University's Department of Industrial Engineering, Dean Shen Zuojun and Dean of Earth System Science, Gong Peng at its monthly meeting next Tuesday (27th) as vice presidents, responsible for research and academic development.

If the appointment is finally passed, after deducting the currently vacant Vice President (Global Affairs), among the seven members of the Senior Management Team (SMT) of the University of Hong Kong, the principals Zhang Xiang, Shen Zuojun and Gong Peng all have mainland backgrounds, and all three of them have or Now teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.

Four members of the central management team resigned within two years of Zhang Xiang's tenure.



Since Zhang Xiang took office as the president of the University of Hong Kong in 2018, four of the other six members of the central management team have "jumped".

Vice President (Global Affairs) Gao Weiyuan took the lead in resigning on Christmas Eve in 2018. It is known that he did not explain the reason for his resignation in the resignation letter. He only stayed as Chair Professor of Translational Medicine Engineering at the Hong Kong University School of Medicine; Tan Guangheng, who was temporarily serving as the Chief Vice President, He also resigned from the position of "first deputy" in early 2019. He later explained that he hoped to spend more time on scientific research, teaching and clinical work.

By the summer of 2019, Connaught, the Vice President (Administration and Finance), and He Zisenfen, the Vice President (Research) both resigned on "personal reasons."

Among them, Connaught returned to the UK, and He Zisen returned to Singapore to take up a new position.

Dean Wei Yonggeng, who has served as the "veteran" of the University of Hong Kong for more than 40 years and has been extended many times, also retired from July this year.

After the current Vice President (Academic Human Resources) Ou Jiefang was not approved for this post, Professor Chen Wenmin of the Faculty of Law was temporarily appointed and then sit back. However, his term of office is only until the end of the year, that is, another Vice President will leave.

After Hong Kong University President Zhang Xiang took office, a total of four senior executives resigned or left early.

(Photo by Lin Ruoqin)

Based on previous reports, the University of Hong Kong’s school website and information from sources, the list of Vice Presidents of the University of Hong Kong is as follows:

Chief Vice President: Wang Yujian (provisional)

Vice President of Administration and Finance: Luo Zheji

Vice President (Academic Human Resources): Ou Jiefang (the contract expires at the end of this year) → Gong Peng?

Vice President (Research): Yan Qingyun (acting) → Shen Zuojun?

Vice Principal (Teaching): He Liren

Vice President (University Development): Tian Zhinan (Temporary)

Vice President (Global Affairs): vacant

"Waiting to bury the head officer" incident and Chen Wenmin incident make recruitment difficult for HKU

Former President Ma Faison took office three years in 2017 and "jumped". He cut his salary and returned to the UK as university president, shocking the academic world.

The current principal, Zhang Xiang, was succeeded by Luo Zhi in 2017. He took office on July 17 of the following year. Since then, high-level resignations have been made. The recruitment of replacement candidates has repeatedly run into obstacles, and the school can only seek inwardly.

The position of "first deputy" is a global recruiter but few people are interested. After the temporary resignation of Tan Guangheng, the school "turned" Wang Yujian, who had served as the first deputy, to take up the position again. Other vacancies for vice presidents were also filled or acted by professors in the school. .

The personnel turmoil in Hong Kong and Dalian can be described as Xu Lizhi, who began serving as the principal from 2002 to 2014. He alleged that he was dismissed for handling the 100th anniversary of the school in 2011 and announced that he would not renew his contract. This has caused unrest in the school.

Ma Faison took over in April 2014, and the Occupation Movement took place shortly thereafter. Dai Yaoting, one of the three sons in Central, was an associate professor in the Department of Law at the University of Hong Kong.

The Dai Yaoting incident indirectly involved Chen Wenmin, the former dean of the School of Law, who was recommended as the "Vice President (Academic Human Resources)." Also involved in the turmoil of Dai Yaoting's occupation of funds.

The University of Hong Kong recruited the first deputy at the right time. In mid-2015, the school committee led by pro-government members requested that the “Vice President (Academic Human Resources)” be directly under the first deputy, and asked to wait for the opinion of the first deputy before reviewing Chen’s appointment. , Is the so-called "waiting to bury the head" storm.

After the four first and deputy candidates all withdrew from the election, it is no longer possible to "wait for the first deputy."

The selection committee for vice presidents led by Ma Feisen still recommended Chen Wenmin for the post. As a result, the school committee rejected the appointment of Chen Wenmin by a secret vote of 12 to 8 at its regular meeting on September 29, triggering student demonstrations.

Chen Wenmin was rejected as the Vice President (Academic Human Resources) in 2015 due to political reasons. At that time, the academic circles predicted that it would be difficult for the University of Hong Kong to recruit senior executives.

(Profile picture)

Zhang Xingwei, then chairman of the HKU Faculty and Staff Association, predicted that the incident would make it difficult for the academic community to do, and the recruitment fairs in the future would face difficulties in attracting foreign scholars to the University. In the end, only scholars with mainland backgrounds could be attracted.

In fact, since July 2015, the first deputy, who is the second highest at the University of Hong Kong, has not been able to recruit suitable candidates, and can only be temporarily in charge by appointing professors on campus.

However, another view is that after China’s reform and opening up, many young people from the Mainland have been studying abroad. In the past 20 years, they have gradually gained academic status and have become a new group of "returnees." Chinese scholars.

HKU Alumni Concern Group: Concerns about the

weakening of HKU's ability to attract talents

Mai Dongrong, deputy convener of the HKU Alumni Concern Group, believes that the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the overthrow of the opinion of the Board of Education by the University Council of the University of Hong Kong, and the immediate dismissal of the associate professor of law, Dai Yaoting, has caused many overseas scholars to worry about touching the red line and hesitate to contact HKU. Cooperation or development.

This time, two more scholars from Tsinghua University joined the University of Hong Kong at the same time. They are in charge of the University’s research and academic development. It is worrying that the university’s academic freedom and university governance will tend to be mainlandized, focusing only on development with the mainland: "Now we can cultivate talents. The soil of Hong Kong may deteriorate rapidly, greatly reducing the ability of the University of Hong Kong to attract talents. In the future, only domestic universities will cooperate with the University of Hong Kong."

Du Yaoming: Mainland scholars take up important posts and gradually change the ecology of colleges

The founder of the Academic Freedom Scholars Alliance and former assistant professor of the Department of Journalism of the Baptist University School of Communication, Du Yaoming, believes that the University of Hong Kong should disclose whether the appointment has fully consulted the stakeholders in the university.

He believes that after the two take office, it will be beneficial to the development of cooperation between the University of Hong Kong and the mainland colleges and universities. "If Hong Kong University hopes to cooperate with mainland universities or Tsinghua University in the future, the appointment of the two will bring great convenience."

However, Du Yaoming pointed out that Hong Kong University’s recruitment through the "inner loop" gave people a bad impression. The Tsinghua University website has shown that Shen Zuojun is a Communist Party committee member. If this person eventually holds a high position, it is disturbing. He is worried that the appointment is intended to turn Hong Kong University into " "Model schools" allow mainland or pro-Mainland scholars to gradually occupy an important academic position in the tertiary sector in Hong Kong, influence the decision-making of university personnel appointments from top to bottom, and gradually change the ecology of tertiary institutions in Hong Kong.

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The University of Hong Kong Tsinghua University Zhang Xiang University Governance

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-10-24

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