877 back alternative plan to reform Chinese University of Hong Kong’s council

The petition, which called for a modified version of the task force’s proposal, has received 877 signatures as of 10pm on Monday.

The university vice-president Eric Ng Shu-pui, as well as alumni Greater Bay Airlines chief executive Stanley Hui Hon-chung and Lingnan University president Leonard Cheng Kwok-hon have all signed the petition.

Cheng told the Post that changes to the university’s governing body were necessary, but the three lawmakers should not have tried to force an amendment.

“There is no need to force an amendment of the CUHK Ordinance on the university, which should only be considered in the extraordinary situation that the university has stubbornly refused to reform the ordinance,” Cheng said.

“But such an extraordinary situation does not exist. Quite the contrary, CUHK has already proposed sensible amendments to its ordinance.”

The private members’ bill was designed to reduce the number of council spots from 55 to 34 and increase the ratio of external representatives to internal appointees to 2:1. The latter group at present accounts for half of all the body’s seats.

The proposal also sought to increase the voting threshold for appointing university heads from the current simple majority to three-quarters.

The task force’s counterproposal, which was published in April, agreed with a reduction in the number of council seats but the revised size ranged from 25 to 34.

The ratio for external and internal members would stand at between 1:1.64 and 1:2.13.

It also called for the voting threshold to be increased to somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters, as well as asking for a review of the number of lawmakers on the council.

But the modified proposal featured in the petition suggested cutting the three seats each held by the university’s official alumni group and lawmakers to two apiece.

But it would preserve the six spots nominated by Hong Kong’s leader and raise the threshold for appointing the vice-chancellor and president, as well as provost, to two-thirds.

Lingnan University president Cheng said lawmakers should work with the university to introduce the appropriate amendments. Any discrepancies between the proposals could be discussed by the legislators and council members, he added.

Fellow signatory Wong Pok-hon, a former council chairman of the university’s now-closed student union, slammed the reduction of seats on the governing body under the private members’ bill as “too much”.

The proposal featured in the petition was more reasonable since it cut a place for lawmakers as well as a seat held by members of the alumni group, he said.

“The reform is a major event for the university and it should be up to the council. It will not be a problem for lawmakers to get enough votes to pass their bill nowadays, but we still want our voices to be heard,” Wong said. “That is why I signed the petition.”

He highlighted that CUHK could not explicitly speak out against the bill as it faced political pressure and needed grants provided by the Legislative Council, which meant university members and alumni needed to come together and voice their concerns.

But lawmaker Tang took to social media to defend the private members’ bill and argued it would boost the legitimacy of selected university heads.

He also emphasised that the changes were slight and that past reform plans had failed to take the impact of the 2019 anti-government protests into consideration.

The Post has contacted Tang and Lau for comment. Cheung has refused to comment.

The bill is seen as the pro-establishment bloc’s response to the controversial reappointment of Professor Rocky Tuan Sung-chi, who will stay on as university president until 2026.

Tuan was accused by some pro-Beijing figures of being sympathetic to protesting students during the social unrest.

A Legco bills committee that scrutinised the proposal last Friday denied a request for a public hearing, despite an insistence by some lawmakers that it would increase transparency.

Details of the bill will be reviewed at another meeting this Friday.

A spokesman for the university on Monday declined to discuss the petition.

He said only that the institution would “look forward” to a special meeting of its council on August 1.