Low turnout as HKU profs pick two mainland Chinese among three new representatives to university governing council
- Number of votes sharply down compared with 2015 election held during controversies over top appointments
- All eyes now on whether city leader Lam will reappoint governing council chairman Arthur Li to a second term
University of Hong Kong teaching staff mostly stayed away from voting for their three representatives to the university’s governing council.
From a field of five, those elected were two mainland scholars, finance professor Chen Zhiwu and engineering professor Quentin Yue Zhongqi, who received 180 and 102 votes respectively, and Hong Kong-born associate professor of microbiology Richard Kao Yi-tsun, with 56 votes.
A total of 479 valid votes were cast, down from 1,385 in 2015.
HKU has 3,087 teaching staff, and 1,087 associate and full professors were eligible this time to cast up to three votes each to pick the council representatives, who are expected to speak up on matters of concern to academics.
The three men elected on Wednesday will each serve a three-year term. A fourth seat for teaching staff will be up for election in 2021.
