HKU appointment saga shows need for university council to stand its ground, whichever way the political wind blows
John Chan calls on the HKU council to resist political pressures - from both sides - in decision-making
The saga surrounding the appointment of the University of Hong Kong's new pro-vice-chancellor has turned into open political confrontation, with hundreds of alumni joining a signature campaign to condemn the HKU council's decision on June 30 to postpone its deliberations.
Council chairman Leong Che-hung explained that the council thought the appointment should not be made until the provost (to whom the pro-vice-chancellor will report) had assumed his post, and that the provost's views on the pro-vice-chancellor's appointment should be taken into consideration in the council's final decision.
Such a contrived explanation on such an important appointment is not only totally unacceptable to the only known candidate, former law dean Johannes Chan man-mun, but it also sparked speculation that political pressure had been exerted on the council from a higher echelon, with Government House high on the list of suspects.
Ostensibly, the appointment ran into trouble when Professor Chan was suspected of mishandling a donation passed on by Occupy Central co-founder and his colleague at the HKU law faculty, Benny Tai Yiu-ting.
The management of the funds became the subject of an internal inquiry, which released a report and a supplemental report for the council's deliberation on June 30.
Commenting on the HKU council's postponement on June 30 of the appointment decision, Chan said that, since the findings of the inquiry were apparently not sufficient to bar his appointment, the council was now looking for other grounds.
