‘Academic freedom in Hong Kong nosedived after security law’

The HRW report also claimed that the leadership in these eight universities have enforced abusive policies and has repeatedly harassed the once-influential student unions….reports Asian Lite News

The educational freedom in Hong Kong continues to decline after the Chinese government imposed the National Security Law on the city on June 30, 2020.

Many important aspects of education, like civil liberties, including the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, are under attack due to the imposed law as students and teachers continue to be fearful of being targeted and harassed.

A recent report titled, “‘We can’t write the Truth anymore’: Academic Freedom in Hong Kong Under the National Security Law,” released by Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international human rights watchdog claimed freedom of expression, assembly, and association are under assault in eight of Hong Kong’s eight publicly funded universities.

According to the same report by HRW, “These universities have become increasingly repressive, students and faculty widely self-censor, fearful of being targeted for harassment, retribution, and even prosecution for what they say and do both in the classroom and on campus”.

Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch “Hong Kong students and faculty, accustomed to academic freedom, now have to tread carefully to avoid retribution for what they teach, research, and publish, and even with whom they associate. The Chinese government considers gaining ideological control over Hong Kong’s universities a top priority, and many students and faculty now find themselves in the line of fire”.

The HRW report also claimed that the leadership in these eight universities have enforced abusive policies and has repeatedly harassed the once-influential student unions.

The report claimed that the members of these student unions can no longer effectively function as elected representatives of the student bodies. According to the report ” They have scrubbed clean notice boards known as “Democracy Walls,” and removed from campuses memorials that are reminders of the Chinese government’s 1989 Tiananmen Massacre of pro-democracy protesters”.

University administrations have also penalised students for holding peaceful protests and gatherings; censored student publications, communications, and events; and used university security guards to monitor students in public spaces. However, none of the universities gave a comment on the matter when asked by the HRW.

According to HRW, the report is based on interviews with faculty and students from all eight publicly funded Hong Kong universities, and a review of media reports in both Chinese and English.

The interviewed individuals claimed that they regularly self-censor in the classrooms, when they write and publish articles, apply for academic funding, and deliberate over which speakers to invite to conferences and events. Many others claimed that they have also faced. One such interviewed individual said that his university reported him to the Hong Kong police for an academic article he wrote that discussed the artwork made during the 2019 protests. (ANI)

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