Exclusive | University of Hong Kong head urged to explain extensive board meeting absences, business trips
- HKU president Xiang Zhang attended only one of 18 academic board meetings since taking office in 2018, failed to offer details of 16 business trips, the Post learns
The governing body of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has urged the school head to explain his nearly complete absence from academic board meetings over the past six years and failure to offer details of 16 business trips spanning almost 147 days, the Post has learned.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also said on Saturday the government was expected to “make a decision” on a dispute between the university’s president, Xiang Zhang, and its council that erupted after he was allegedly kept in the dark about a surprise senior management reshuffle.
“We are trying to contact different parties to know more about the matter. All these efforts are ongoing and we believe there will be a decision soon,” Choi said, giving no further details.
“It is normal for a university, of such scale, to have different views. It is of utmost importance for different parties to be sincere in their communications.”
A series of internal communications between Zhang and the school council led by Priscilla Wong Pui-sze seen by the Post has shown that tensions are running high, on top of the recent drama which prompted some HKU alumni to ask city leader John Lee Ka-chiu to step in.
According to the documents, the council secretary asked Zhang in March and April to explain or provide more information on issues ranging from his meeting attendance and business trips to the organisational charts of his private office, senior management team and HKU-Shenzhen campus. HKU and Zhang’s office did not respond to inquiries from the Post on Friday.
In a letter dated March 5 to Zhang, registrar Dora Yue Kar-man, who also served as the council secretary, said the president attended only one of the 18 academic board meetings since he assumed office in 2018, even though he was the board chairman.
The HKU academic board is tasked with reviewing the institution’s objectives, policies, development and activities, as well as monitoring the curriculum implementation.
“The academic board meets three to four times a year. However, it appears that you [Zhang] have not attended any academic board meetings, apart from one in 2018, since taking office,” said the letter, which required Zhang to reply in three days.
“If there are any good reasons why you have done so, kindly provide them to the council.”
The Post was told that the president did not reply.
Zhang did not attend 17 of the 19 campus development and planning committee meetings held between 2018 and 2023 and took part in only a third of the 18 finance committee gatherings, according to the internal documents.
Zhang’s business trips also came under scrutiny at the council.
On April 2, Yue told Zhang in another letter that he went on 20 business trips spanning 199 days from December 2020 to March 2024, but failed to provide any particulars on 16 of them. The latter trips spanned 146.5 days.
“These were only reported to the council as your business trips … you never even informed the council until you reported afterwards once every two months,” the letter said.
“For the council to properly appraise your business trips, please provide a proper account on each of them from December 2020 to date, including relevant entities and people you contacted and interacted with,” the letter requiring Zhang to reply in seven days said.
The council secretary also accused Zhang of “a breach of governance” after he was found to have endorsed a candidate for the executive vice-president position even after he failed to obtain the necessary approval of a proposed salary for the aspirant from the university’s human resources committee.
“This fact was not disclosed in your paper, and yet the paper was still submitted to the council. This incident represents a breach of governance and is unacceptable,” a letter dated March 20 said.
The president was also slammed for failing to provide a complete organisational chart of his own office, as well as the senior management team, which had several vacant posts that were being filled by interim staff.
“Incorrect or incomplete charts are highly misleading and should not be provided by the president,” it said.
These documents were seen not only by council members, but also by some staff.
A source told the Post that the council made the surprise reshuffle last month against the backdrop of Zhang’s “gross mismanagement”.
The Post earlier reported that Zhang was seeking legal advice after being kept in the dark about the reshuffle, which endorsed the appointment of several interim vice-president positions.
The reshuffle also effectively demoted Zhang’s right-hand man, deputy vice-chancellor Richard Wong Yue-chim, who has been serving as the school’s interim provost since 2019.
On Saturday, links on the university’s website for the members of the senior management team, president’s office and even the senate were no longer available. They were accessible as recently as last week.
Tensions between Zhang and the council broke out last year when the president was accused of misconduct and mismanagement.
Priscilla Wong had vowed to get to the bottom of the accusations by setting up a panel to look into the matter, which eventually cleared Zhang of any wrongdoing in April.
Another source familiar with the situation said the internal exchanges reflected the dire situation, in which Zhang and Wong seemed incapable of working with one another.
“The council chairman and the president should be able to work together instead of being in a relationship akin to that of a claimant and a defendant,” the insider said.
John Lee earlier tasked the Education Bureau to look into the incident, as he highlighted that the public had high expectations of the governance at HKU.
