“There is also a vice-president post that has been taken up by five people within four years while it was vacant.

“This is not ideal, and it is impossible that the overall administrative work is not affected.”

HKU’s vice-president for global affairs role was vacant since January 2019 and another position of vice-president of institutional advancement was unfilled since 2021. The role of provost was taken up Richard Wong Yue-chim in an interim arrangement since 2019.

The post filled by five people in four years was executive vice-president for administration and finance. It was first filled by Wong in 2020, before it was formally taken up by Steve Lo Chit-ki in August 2020.

Lo was then succeeded by Jeannie Tsang Wing-shi in May 2022 and Professor Wei Pan later that year, before the role was handed back to Wong again in early 2024. All of them in an “acting” capacity.

Last May, the council appointed Norman Tien Chihnan as executive vice-president after obtaining most votes from the governing body, although the HKU webpage had not been updated to reflect the change.

The remarks by Lee, who also serves as HKU’s chancellor, are the first public signs of his stance on a row between president Xiang Zhang and its governing council, led by Priscilla Wong Pui-sze.

Wong declined to respond to Lee’s comments on Tuesday after attending a meeting of the Independent Police Complaints Council, which she heads.

“Continue to support HKU. Thank you,” Wong said.

The row between the pair erupted in May after the council endorsed the appointment of several interim vice-president positions as part of a management reshuffle, with Zhang allegedly kept in the dark.

The council, in an open letter to all its staff, students and alumni earlier, said the appointments were made collectively “under unavoidable circumstances and for the betterment of the university”.

It noted several vice-president positions had remained vacant for extended periods since Zhang assumed office in 2018, which resulted in “frequent management issues”.

Ahead of the latest senior management reshuffle, HKU had been trying to fill four senior management positions: executive vice-president in administration and finance; provost and deputy vice-chancellor; vice-president and pro-vice-chancellor in institutional advancement; and vice-president and pro-vice-chancellor in teaching and learning.

Earlier this month, the government set up an investigation and study group – headed by Permanent Secretary for Education Michelle Li Mei-sheung and Tim Lui Tim-leung, chairman of the University Grants Committee – to look into the matter.

Lee said on Tuesday that he hoped the group could meet all of the relevant stakeholders as soon as possible and help set the record straight by studying the facts.

“If everyone agrees the interests of the University of Hong Kong come first, I do not see anything that cannot be solved.” he said. “It is a matter of will.”

According to internal HKU documents seen by the Post, several council members had flagged the issue of academics being appointed in “acting” capacities for extended periods.

“Very often the staff involved could be in the ‘acting’ position for years. Some actually are ‘acting’ in two to three roles at the same time,” a member said.

“This begs the question of how the staff are being selected, how confident is the university that they are qualified for these senior roles, and whether they have the time and ability to fulfil all their duties.”

Another council member wrote that some senior staff held multiple “acting” management roles and wondered whether there were guidelines for such arrangements.

“Unclear guidelines were found on the acting appointments. Are there any acting appointment guidelines to control the duration, qualifications, experience and capacity of the candidates?” the submission said.

“If not, should the vice-chancellor bear the ultimate responsibility in his failure to lead the university and assist the council?”