A Hong Kong university has launched an investigation into an incident in which a Republic of China (ROC) national flag displayed by Taiwanese students was removed and replaced with a People’s Republic of China flag.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology yesterday said that it received a complaint from the Taiwanese Students’ Association on Saturday saying that a stand it set up on campus to promote a board election was vandalized.
The university said it had initiated an investigation into the matter in accordance with procedures and would take the issue seriously.
School administrators called on all students to be rational and tolerant, and respect others when expressing their views.
The association last week set up a stand with a banner that showed the group’s name as well as the ROC flag.
Later in the week, association members discovered that the flag had been removed and replaced with a People’s Republic of China flag.
Hsieh Yuan-jin (謝元津), a candidate for association chairman, on Friday said on Facebook that the stand had been sabotaged the previous night.
The university’s Students’ Union in a statement on Saturday condemned the alleged vandalization.
The Taiwan Students’ Association is affiliated with the Students’ Union, the statement said.
The group was authorized by students and any attack against it, whether politically motivated or otherwise, is an attack on the university’s democratic system, the statement said.
As of yesterday, the university had not identified any suspects in the incident.
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