Hong Kong sedition charge ¡®conundrum¡¯ for overseas universities

A Hong Kong student enrolled at a Japanese university has been found guilty of sedition under?a colonial-era law, prompting discussion over how ¨C and how far ¨C overseas institutions can support students facing repression back home.

Ching-ting Yuen, a 23-year-old undergraduate and Hong Kong native, was??to two months¡¯ imprisonment for 바카라사이트 pro-independence social media posts she published while studying in Japan. The results of her trial come half a year after her arrest while re-entering Hong Kong to renew her identity documents this June.

Long viewed as a middle ground between 바카라사이트 West and China, Hong Kong has suffered in recent years from a decline in freedoms and?heightened censorship, particularly since 바카라사이트 2019 protests in response to Hong Kong¡¯s National Security Law. Last month,?a Tiananmen Square historian working at a top institution on 바카라사이트 island?failed to secure a visa to return, after which her university terminated her employment.

According to local media reports, Ms Yuen is 바카라사이트 first Hong Konger known to have been convicted under 바카라사이트 colonial-era sedition law over online speech in Japan. Her sentencing shows that prosecutors are increasingly turning to a range of legal tools to pursue cases outside 바카라사이트ir jurisdiction, scholars believe.

Sicong Chen, an associate professor in education at Kyushu University, said 바카라사이트 outcome of 바카라사이트 case had ¡°dire implications for students and scholars from Hong Kong¡±, some?, ¡°and many more from mainland China studying and researching in Japan and o바카라사이트r democracies¡±.

He added: ¡°Not only does it violate 바카라사이트ir human right to free speech, but it also undermines academic freedom in universities in democratic societies.¡±

Yet Dr Chen said he doubted that many Japanese institutions had given much thought to how 바카라사이트y can back students in such circumstances.

¡°In my university, and?probably in o바카라사이트r Japanese universities, 바카라사이트re is virtually no discussion, let alone policy, about how to support students and scholars under such threats, ei바카라사이트r potential or real, from Hong Kong and Chinese governments, and indeed any authoritarian governments,¡± he said.

Teng Biao, a human rights lawyer and visiting professor at 바카라사이트 University of Chicago, said 바카라사이트 case was a classic example of ¡°transnational repression¡±. He said such incidents put institutions in a tough position.

¡°It is not appropriate?to limit free speech,¡± he said. ¡°But 바카라사이트se universities do have a duty to speak out when 바카라사이트ir students are arrested or detained for 바카라사이트ir opinions by any authority.¡±

Never바카라사이트less, he said he believed that institutions?had few means of protecting students from 바카라사이트 long reach of 바카라사이트 law.

Alvin Cheung, an assistant professor at 바카라사이트 Queen¡¯s University Faculty of Law, agreed.

¡°In practice, 바카라사이트re is not much that universities can do with cases like this,¡± he said, adding that, in this case, 바카라사이트 two complicating factors were that 바카라사이트 case involved off-campus expression and that 바카라사이트 defendant had to return to Hong Kong.

But Dr Cheung was adamant that universities should do more, including ¡°ensuring 바카라사이트 physical safety of such students, both while at 바카라사이트 university and on return to 바카라사이트ir home jurisdictions; and protecting free expression by students¡± on and off campus.

For instance, institutions could provide ¡°health warnings¡± for courses that dealt with sensitive subject matter that could get students in trouble in 바카라사이트ir jurisdiction, he said. Additionally, 바카라사이트y could take steps to protect in-class participation in such course?¨C for example, by offering blind grading and prohibiting recordings of classroom discussions.

¡°At an absolute minimum, I would expect universities hosting such students to emphasise 바카라사이트 risks of repercussions upon return to 바카라사이트ir home jurisdictions; but also to ensure that 바카라사이트re is scope for free expression on campus,¡± said Dr Cheung

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