University of Hong Kong Vice President candidate Shen Zuojun's "Party Committee" background draws attention to student school committee urges postponement of voting

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Written by: Hu Jiaxin

2020-10-24 19:50

Last update date: 2020-10-24 22:50

Shen Zuojun, a candidate for Vice President (Research) of the University of Hong Kong and Dean of the Department of Industrial Engineering of Tsinghua University, was suddenly deleted because of the "slingshot" of the Tsinghua school website. Information and events arouse social attention.

"Hong Kong 01" asked 5 members of the University Committee of the University of Hong Kong today (24th). At least two of them believed that in the selection of vice-principals, there is no need to consider the political background of the recommended candidates. Instead, the most important is their academic performance. Management experience and character, etc.

However, the current Sino-US relations are tense. Gao Yicun, the school committee and associate professor of the Department of Microbiology, said that he is not sure of the candidate’s political status and will have the opportunity to affect the future international academic exchanges of the University of Hong Kong. I believe the school committee will be held next Tuesday. During the meeting, relevant discussions will be involved.

Li Zicheng, the undergraduate student representative of the school committee, criticized that if the deputy principal is elected as a party member, teachers and students will worry about the establishment of a "political red line" in the school. Ask the school committee to postpone the vote.

Two Tsinghua University scholars Shen Zuojun and Gong Peng were recommended as vice presidents, responsible for research and academic development respectively.

According to multiple documents on the Tsinghua University website, Shen Zuojun was listed as a former member of the Party Committee of the Department of Industrial Engineering. Until August this year, the website has been archived and it has been listed as a member of the Party Committee. However, the University of Hong Kong has not explained that he was a member of the Party Committee. He is not a member of the party committee, and the Tsinghua website also deletes relevant records.

Gao Yicun, a representative of the faculty and staff of the University of Hong Kong University Committee and associate professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, said that he had initially read the resumes of Shen Zuojun and Gong Peng and described the backgrounds of both of them as "both good" and "not so weird."

He did not disclose his intention to vote, but he believes that the vice president of the University of Hong Kong is an administrative position, not a political position, and there is no need to consider the candidate's political background. The focus is to examine the candidate's academic performance and management experience.

Another member of the school committee, Shi Liqian, a member of the Pakatan Harapan Legislative Council, also held the same opinion. He did not comment on the two candidates recommended for the vice school, but believes that the decision of the vice president selection committee is to select "there are certain Status", scholars with international academic achievements.

Gao Yicun, a representative of the faculty and staff of the University Committee of the University of Hong Kong and an associate professor of the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, accepted the inquiry of "Hong Kong 01" and said that the selection of a vice president does not need to consider political background.

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Gaoyi Village: Hong Kong University has no party and government institutions and no room for political decisions

According to multiple web records, Tsinghua University Schoolnet once pointed out that in addition to being the dean of the Department of Industrial Engineering, Shen Zuojun was also a member of the party committee of the department’s "department party committee" team.

However, relevant information was deleted after the news was exposed yesterday (23rd) afternoon.

A source from the University of Hong Kong said afterwards that Shen Zuojun claimed to the school that he was not a member of the Communist Party of China.

Shi Liqian said that the candidate for the deputy school has a political background, and "everyone has political inclinations and his own value. I don't care if you are Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam. The most important thing is to observe your experience, academics, and character."

Gao Yicun pointed out that according to the current public information, whether Shen Zuojun is a party committee or a party member is still in doubt. He described his political status as "sensitive," but he was not worried.

He explained that the University of Hong Kong does not have a party and government organization, "it is not the Mainland, and there is no political decision."

Gao believes that university governance has a mechanism of checks and balances. Even if the vice president has a background as a party member, he believes that there will not be a situation where "party decisions are greater than administration." "There is no room to make political decisions." The decision must still be made in line with university development. 

Sino-U.S. relations are strained, paying attention to whether the background of the deputy school will affect international exchanges

At present, Sino-US relations are tense. Gao Yicun said that he is not sure whether the future associate school will have relevant political status and will affect the future international exchanges of HKU. It is expected that there will be relevant discussions in the school committee next Tuesday.

Shi Liqian, another member of the school committee and a former legislative council member of the Pakatan Harapan Council, emphasized that he believed in the recommendation decision of the vice president selection committee.

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Representatives of undergraduate students of the school committee criticize the background of the party committee to damage the reputation of the university and promote the delay of voting

Li Zicheng, undergraduate student representative of the school committee, criticized that the party committee of the mainland university must be held accountable to the party. If the vice president is selected as a party committee or party member, it will make the outside world think that the University of Hong Kong has a "party committee to help out" or a political decision by the party will override the administrative decision of the university. .

Li also pointed out that under the "Hong Kong National Security Law", teachers and students will worry about the establishment of a "political red line" in the university, which will lead to self-censorship of university research, which will eventually lead to a decline in academic performance and ultimately damage the university's international reputation.

Li Zicheng also questioned whether the selection committee had considered the political background of the candidates. "The university has always tried to prevent politics from entering the campus, but there is a party committee with strong political connections who acted as the decision-making level for administration. How can I not consider this?" He also issued a statement on social platforms, publicly requesting the principal Zhang Xiang to postpone the vote, and set up an independent agency to investigate the background of the two and whether the selection committee had made any mistakes in the selection process.

Li Zicheng, undergraduate student representative of the school committee, criticized that the party committee of the mainland university must be held accountable to the CCP. If the vice president is selected as a party committee or party member, it will make the outside world think that the University of Hong Kong has a "party committee to help out." It is worried that the political decision of the party will override the administrative decision of the university.

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"Hong Kong 01" also successfully called two other school committee members. Lu Chongmao, dean of the Hong Kong University Shenzhen School of Medicine, said that because he was in the Mainland and had not paid attention to local news, he would not respond temporarily. Former Deputy Director of Broadcasting Department Dai Jianwen said that he has not yet responded. After receiving the school committee documents, I don’t know the information about the candidate of the vice-principal and do not comment.

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