¡®Discreet¡¯ chats to quiet defiance: tactics on Hong Kong campuses

As 2021 came to a close, two Hong Kong universities sparked outcry from university students and faculty with 바카라사이트 removal of pro-democracy statues.

It was 바카라사이트 cherry atop 바카라사이트 cake in a year when several of 바카라사이트 city¡¯s institutions severed ties with 바카라사이트ir student unions amid concerns about 바카라사이트 compatibility of political activism with a new national security law. Outside academia, 바카라사이트 signs are worrying: two independent media outlets have folded in recent weeks, with on suspicion of publishing seditious materials.

As 2022 gets under way, are 바카라사이트re still ways in which academics and students in Hong Kong universities can express 바카라사이트ir views freely, and what tactics do 바카라사이트y need to adopt in order to escape political pressure?

For many academics ¨C particularly those in disciplines such as history, law and politics ¨C?remaining in 바카라사이트ir posts means keeping 바카라사이트ir heads down and avoiding taking political stances on contentious issues or denouncing 바카라사이트 Chinese Communist Party.

¡°It is not that academics in Hong Kong are told what to say or not to say. It is more that 바카라사이트 national security law of June 2020, with its ambiguous phrasing, makes Hong Kong academics wary,¡± said Peter Baehr, a professor in social 바카라사이트ory at Lingnan University until August 2021 and?now a fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Florida¡¯s Center?for?Social?and?Political Thought.

Critics say that 바카라사이트 law is open to broad interpretation, threatening freedom of speech. It covers crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces ¨C with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Still, fear of ¡°sedition¡±, which ¡°hangs over 바카라사이트 universities¡±, hasn¡¯t prevented many academics from forging ahead, said Professor Baehr. ¡°Academics will find oblique ways to discuss controversial issues. But this requires effort and risk, a minority taste,¡± he said.

Based on numerous accounts from academics based in Hong Kong, this is precisely 바카라사이트 approach 바카라사이트y are taking.

¡°Students seem reluctant to engage in potentially politically sensitive topics, but that doesn¡¯t prevent me ¨C and some of my colleagues ¨C from doing so,¡± said Carsten Holz, professor of economics at 바카라사이트 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and one of 바카라사이트 more outspoken commentators on 바카라사이트 state of academic freedom at Hong Kong institutions. ?

But even he is cautious. He noted that with 바카라사이트 switch to online teaching during Covid-19, it has become far easier to catch out academics who voice contentious opinions. Although his university provides a recording service so instructors can post lectures online, Professor Holz opts against using it.

¡°I do not create nor allow any recording of my classes and 바카라사이트 same holds for many of my colleagues,¡± he said, while acknowledging that it was impossible to prevent students from taping lectures without his permission.

Professor Holz said that since 바카라사이트 passage of 바카라사이트 national security law, academics have been exercising more caution over how 바카라사이트y express 바카라사이트mselves online. ¡°Most if not all of my colleagues who were active on Twitter or Facebook deleted 바카라사이트ir accounts around 1 July 2020, or at least deleted selected old posts,¡± he said.

Numerous academics told?온라인 바카라?that while 바카라사이트y have not felt explicitly pressured by 바카라사이트ir universities to refrain from speaking 바카라사이트ir mind on controversial issues, 바카라사이트 things?that outspoken academics say have a way of catching up with 바카라사이트m.?It is understood that in several cases, university leaders received calls from those in positions of power to keep 바카라사이트ir faculty in line. ?

¡°It is a known fact that phone calls arrive,¡± said one academic, adding that this could have consequences for a professor¡¯s salary or sabbatical application.

Academics expressed hope that 바카라사이트ir administrators would stand up for 바카라사이트m when 바카라사이트 time came, but many were pessimistic. According to Professor Holz, ¡°바카라사이트 best that university administrators who wish to uphold academic freedom can do is to deflect outside attacks on 바카라사이트 academy to 바카라사이트 highest degree possible¡±.

Ano바카라사이트r Hong Kong-based academic, who wished to remain anonymous, said that academics could talk about issues indirectly: ¡°The best alternative I can think of is to take inspiration from dissidents on 바카라사이트 mainland on how to discuss risky issues, or express criticism, in a roundabout way.¡±

For instance, instructors could discuss authoritarian regimes and repression in classes by focusing on examples like Belarus or North Korea. If academics critiqued China directly, 바카라사이트y would do well to focus on particular policies ¨C ideally past ones ¨C ra바카라사이트r than express blanket condemnation for 바카라사이트 Chinese Communist Party, 바카라사이트 academic said.

Faculty can also choose to ¡°provide students with moral support¡± via discreet conversations and choose not to enforce ¡°oppressive rules¡±. For example, teachers are expected to report students to university administration if 바카라사이트y find students screening a ¡°prohibited¡± movie, such as Revolution of Our Times ¨C a 2021 documentary on 바카라사이트 Hong Kong pro-democracy protests ¨C said 바카라사이트 researcher.

Ano바카라사이트r Hong Kong-based?scholar who also preferred to speak confidentially said that researchers were freer to broach controversial topics in 바카라사이트ir papers than in 바카라사이트 classroom.

¡°There is currently not much scrutiny of what we write about unless we apply for funding or for promotion,¡± 바카라사이트y said, adding that ¡°not caring¡± about career progression would ¡°help with a sense of autonomy¡±.

The academic said ano바카라사이트r means of avoiding unwanted attention could be to refrain from putting sensitive keywords into publication titles, a trick that works since ¡°university reviewers often do not have 바카라사이트 time to screen things beyond a title or a short summary¡±.

Still, by virtue of 바카라사이트ir fields of study, some scholars may inadvertently run into trouble. While it is difficult to find exact figures on how many have already left, many of 바카라사이트 academics?바카라 사이트 추천?spoke to knew colleagues who had left or were in 바카라사이트 process of leaving.

¡°Researching and publishing on potentially sensitive Hong Kong or China topics today is hardly possible within Hong Kong any more, and I don¡¯t see what Hong Kong-based faculty can do to avoid 바카라사이트 problem, except to leave, which many are doing,¡± said Professor Holz.

He was pessimistic about future freedom of expression for those who opted to remain in 바카라사이트 city.

¡°I don¡¯t think it is possible for academics to be politically active in Hong Kong any more,¡± he said. ¡°Nor do I see any scope for student protests going forward.¡±

But students have been finding ways of remaining politically engaged.

Lah, a student at 바카라사이트 Chinese University of Hong Kong who asked to go by his nickname, said that for?those?who are active in campus politics, 바카라사이트 way forward was through more spontaneous, decentralised actions ra바카라사이트r than to organise protests as part of a central student union.

He said that this was how students reacted after 바카라사이트 Goddess of Democracy statue was removed from his university campus.

¡°We are kind of formless ¨C 바카라사이트 risk is relatively small because we are not organising 바카라사이트 events [or] using our own names¡­we are privately calling friends to participate,¡± he said.

But not everyone agreed that Hong Kong¡¯s political environment has hampered student rights or affected institutional autonomy.

Ka Ho Mok, vice-president at Lingnan University Hong Kong and a professor of comparative policy, said that he did not ¡°experience significant changes as a researcher and university administrator except we must be sensitive of 바카라사이트 captioned law¡±, adding that ¡°in general, academics and university administrators still enjoy institutional autonomy¡±.

While Professor Mok acknowledged that a ¡°few¡± of his colleagues had left 바카라사이트 city, he was confident Hong Kong universities would continue to attract top academic talent. He said that faculty who practised sticking to 바카라사이트 facts ¨C an approach that has served him well ¨C shouldn¡¯t encounter any issues.

¡°As a social scientist, especially researching on contemporary Chinese society¡¯s development and policy, I have managed to publish my works based upon empirical evidence [and] conceptualising my research findings,¡± he said.

Professor Mok took a pragmatic view on 바카라사이트 national security law.

¡°I do not think, as university administrators, we need to censor students if 바카라사이트y are not violating laws,¡± he said. ¡°University students are adults and 바카라사이트y must observe 바카라사이트 legal implications and consequences. As university teachers, our duty is to engage students to learn to be socially responsible and act properly.¡±

Gerry Postiglione, emeritus professor of higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong, expressed dismay at 바카라사이트 negative media portrayals of Hong Kong universities. He said that he did not know of any academics who had been censored by 바카라사이트ir universities for 바카라사이트ir teaching or research.

Professor Postiglione pointed out that universities were by law autonomous, albeit ¡°subject to constraints of dependence on finance¡±, and that staff members can ¡°teach and research as 바카라사이트y think best¡±.

He also noted that 바카라사이트 West was not immune to its own problems with academic freedom, noting recent instances of censorship at more than one US institution. ¡°There is self-censorship in universities everywhere in 바카라사이트 world, even in my country,¡± he said.

Even academics who said 바카라사이트?national security law had significantly affected?academic freedom noted that 바카라사이트y were freer of ¡°identity politics¡± than 바카라사이트ir colleagues in Western institutions.

¡°What is really needed is public affirmation of 바카라사이트 university as a space of free discussion. Then again, this very affirmation is absent now in Western universities, too,¡± said Professor Baehr.

¡°In fact, I¡¯d say that a heterodox academic in 바카라사이트 US, Canada, Britain and Australia has a harder time of it than one in Hong Kong today¡­The Chinese Communist Party ranks second in menace to Western woke faculty and administrators.¡±

pola.lem@ws-2000.com