Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Dec 13, 2024

Chinese University of Hong Kong task force takes middle ground in council reform

Chinese University of Hong Kong task force takes middle ground in council reform

Consultation shows lawmakers plan to reduce percentage of staff and students on governing body unpopular with stakeholders.

A task force set up by a leading university in Hong Kong has opted for a middle ground in reforming its council after a contentious proposal that would drastically reduce the percentage of staff members was met with overwhelming opposition in a consultation exercise.

The council on Monday endorsed the findings of the task force, which had concluded that a milder proposal floated in 2016 remained “fit for purpose”.

The task force was formed to consult stakeholders on both that proposal and the recent bill spearheaded by lawmakers which suggested raising the threshold for the council to appoint the university’s president and increasing the number of members chosen by the chief executive.

The task force, led by ex-Hong Kong central banker Norman Chan Tak-lam, also suggested the current arrangement of having three lawmakers sitting on the board should be reviewed “in the interest of achieving a more optimal downsizing”.

CUHK council member Norman Chan (left) and John Chai meet the press in Admiralty after a meeting of the task force reviewing the proposal to reform the university’s council.


“Looking across the city’s eight universities, some may not have mandated the inclusion of legislators on their councils, but many have invited lawmakers as members,” said Professor John Chai Yat-chiu, chairman of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) council, when asked if the task force’s suggestion was floated to minimise political intervention.

He stopped short of saying whether the more contentious proposal by a trio of lawmakers on the council, which included Liberal Party’s Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, was abandoned or not following a special meeting with fellow members.

“The task force has eloquently commented specifically on every point of the 2022 proposals and gave its recommendation,” Chai said, referring to the plan mooted by the three lawmakers.

The trio had sought to reduce the number of council members from 55 to 34 while drastically increasing the proportion of external representatives, so they would dominate the body at a ratio of 2:1 to internal ones, who make up half of the membership.

The bill also suggested raising the threshold for the body to appoint the university’s president to three-quarters of council votes and increasing the number of members chosen by the chief executive.

The proposed overhaul was seen as the pro-establishment bloc’s response to the reappointment of Rocky Tuan Sung-chi, who will stay on as CUHK president until 2026. Tuan was accused by some pro-Beijing figures of being sympathetic to protesting students during the 2019 social unrest.

President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Rocky Tuan.


According to the task force’s report, which was released on Monday, it agreed that the current 54-member council should be scaled down to between 25 to 34 to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness, with the ratio between internal members and external representatives kept between 1 to 1.64 and 1 to 2.13.

The 2016 proposal, endorsed by the task force, suggested downsizing the council to 29, with internal members taking up 11 seats. In lawmaker Cheung’s proposal, internal members would also take up 11 seats, but in a 34-strong body.

The task force also concluded that the threshold for electing the vice-chancellor and provost should be raised from two-thirds to 75 per cent of council votes.

The consultation conducted by the task force, which garnered 880 responses from the university’s stakeholders, including staff, students and alumni, reported overwhelming opposition to several elements of Cheung’s proposal.

Norman Chan, the CUHK alumnus who led the task force, defended the group’s recommendation to cut the number of staff representatives sitting on the council.

“To reduce the size of the council from 54 [to about 30], it would be inevitable for some groups to be cut down. You would notice that the largest amount of cuts came from internal members, while external representatives would take up the majority,” Chan said.

“The governance principle is that because the council is the organ of the highest power of the university, which decides resource allocation and issues of all aspects, suitable checks and balances are needed. This means external council members must exceed the number of internal management.”

Cheung left the meeting without responding to questions from the press, merely saying the council chairman would speak on the proposals as he was “of too low a standing”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×