‘Petty politics will destroy University of Hong Kong’: Nobel winner backs varsity chief ahead of council meeting on misconduct claims
- Professor Fraser Stoddart calls on council to ignore accusations against Xiang Zhang, saying inquiry is a ‘complete waste of time’
- ‘This is a little storm in a teacup in a very localised situation. The rest of the world doesn’t give a damn,’ he says
A Nobel laureate in chemistry recruited by the president of Hong Kong’s top university has openly supported the institution’s beleaguered chief, ahead of a key meeting of its governing council to discuss accusations of mismanagement made anonymously against him.
Professor Fraser Stoddart, who received his Nobel Prize in 2016 and joined the University of Hong Kong (HKU) last month as chair professor of chemistry, said he would release an open letter of support for Xiang Zhang on Monday.
He urged the council to ignore the accusations against the HKU president, saying an inquiry would be “a complete waste of time”.
“It would not be in the interest of Hong Kong University,” he said. “And I don’t think it would be in the interests of Hong Kong … petty politics destroy your university.”
The scholar added that the international community would not care about the saga.
