Chinese University cuts ties with student union

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) said on Thursday that it’ll stop providing administrative support to the student union as well as venues for its activities after accusing its new cabinet of failing to clarify what the institution said were potentially unlawful statements and false allegations.

“The Student Union Executive Committee members have made false allegations against the University and exploited the campus for their political propaganda, which ran counter to the mission of CUHK and brought the University into disrepute,” CUHK said in a statement.

A spokesman stressed the election platform of Syzygia, which won the leadership election on Wednesday, does not represent the position of the university.

In its manifesto, Syzygia accused the university of “kowtowing to the regime”. It also vowed to fight the “unjust regime” and said the Beijing-imposed national security law infringed on basic human rights and freedom.

CUHK said it had already voiced its opposition to Syzygia’s election platform and remarks made by students in media interviews, and reminded them that their comments on national security may be in violation of the law, but that the student union failed to clarify its stance.

The university said it would also stop collecting student union fees on its behalf and require the student body to register as an independent society to assume its own legal responsibility. Members will also be suspended from their ex-officio positions in all university committees.

Ties between the university and the student body were strained after CUHK called the police over two incidents on its Sha Tin campus in recent months.

A protest during CUHK’s congregation ceremony in November later resulted in the arrest of about 10 people, and a number of students were taken into custody for their alleged involvement in an attack on security guards on the first day of the new semester in January.

Some students were unhappy that management had put in place security checks after violent clashes erupted on campus in 2019 in the midst of the anti-government protests.