Fri, May 14, 2021 page8

• An open letter to students of HKU

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  Dear students of the University of Hong Kong (HKU),

  Your school administration has in effect disabled, if not permanently closed, the student government. Bound by the National Security Law, you cannot express your anger publicly. Your school’s alumni have urged Academia Sinica to remove the title of academician from your school president and vice chancellor Zhang Xiang (張翔).

  I am writing this letter to express my support and respect, as a member of Academia Sinica’s faculty, the parent of a National Taiwan University (NTU) student and a former university student who participated in the student movement.

  Many of my colleagues at Academia Sinica share my position.

  First of all, your request is right. It is a great shame for Academia Sinica to have a university vice chancellor who persecutes his own students as an academician. Asking to annul his academician’s title is therefore entirely justified. It is just, as was Wolfson College of the University of Cambridge in the UK taking away the fellowship of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) for undermining the territory’s democracy and persecuting its citizens.

  More importantly, Zhang is not qualified to be the vice chancellor of HKU. Acting as the head of an academic institution is certainly not an easy task, particularly in resisting external political and social pressure. However, the difficulty is one thing, while it is another thing to become a full accomplice of a totalitarian regime, even worse, to be an aggressor against his own students.

  Instead of protecting his students, Zhang cooperated with the shameful government of Hong Kong in condemning and arresting brave students. He has now effectively disabled the self-governing organization of students. He has eliminated freedom of thought and university autonomy.

  Backed by the Chinese regime, Zhang is secure in his position. I suggest that you write to the US National Academy of Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and other international organizations, calling on them to remove his memberships or honors.

  Second, as a parent of an NTU student, I am very sympathetic to your situation. Compared with you, college students in Taiwan are fortunate in that they enjoy democracy, and freedom of thought and speech on campus. However, it is hard to say how solid these hard-won achievements are.

  A few days ago we learned that a former president of NTU’s student government worked as an informant for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime. The record states that she provided 25 important pieces of intelligence about her fellow students and was praised by the intelligence organization. This person, now a KMT lawmaker, has not apologized at all — and has even denied the fact. The Taiwanese public has not reacted so far.

  This shows the fragility of our society’s democratic values, which is worrying. Your current situation is, of course, much harder, but you have the sympathy and support of most Hong Kong residents and parents. Just like Taiwan will continue to struggle hard, please continue your resistance.

  Third, when I was a student, the regime in Taiwan maintained a tight grip on the society and universities by means of its Leninist party, the state machine, the military and spy agencies. Still, many students bravely stepped forward to pursue campus democracy and social reforms.

  The KMT regime and the NTU administration were never soft on infiltrating, oppressing and disciplining students. We often felt hopeless, thinking that we might never see a day of change. However, we encouraged each other and fought one battle after another.

  Nobody expected the authoritarian strongman would suddenly die, nor did we anticipate that the student movement we took part in would help give rise to all the changes that followed quite rapidly, such as a full re-election of the national legislature and direct election of the president.

  Just like what we have done, your efforts today are the hope of Hong Kong tomorrow.

  We are very sorry that we cannot do much materially from Taiwan to help you withstand Chinese thugs and their assistants in Hong Kong. However, we assure you that we care about your demands. You have our unreserved support, and we pay infinite respect to your bravery. In you, we see our young selves, our children, and the hope of the future world.

  Please preserve your strength, but persevere to the end. Justice will eventually triumph over evil. Then we will celebrate together.

  Yours,

  KC

  Academia Sinica faculty member
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