Posters and banners advocating "independence for Hong Kong" have appeared on the campuses of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and others. This incident arouses wide attention and concern. The vast majority of citizens oppose turning a university into some "political stage". A handful of students have no right to impose their own wishful thinking on all other students. School authorities are duty-bound to stop and deal with such malpractice in accordance with the law.
As a matter of fact, the posting of slogans advocating "independence for Hong Kong" on university campuses has already caused bad effects inside and outside the campuses. Inside the campuses, teachers and students are forced to be drawn into the whirlpool of political antagonism, and engaged in debate over the so-called "freedom of speech" issue and even in physical confrontations. As a result, there is no peace right at the beginning of new school year, as a shadow is cast over the campus atmosphere and relations among students. The image of universities in society is once again damaged.
Some citizens even angrily point out that the huge public funds the government spends on tertiary education each year are taxpayers' hard-earned money, but some students do not cherish it and are not grateful so they do not concentrate on their studies but instead create trouble on campus to spread the erroneous idea of "independence for Hong Kong". Such university students do not have the least sense of responsibility and conception of nation, and they are wasting taxpayers' money. School authorities must timely and seriously deal with them. Those who turn a deaf ear to advices and refuse to mend their ways should be ordered to quit school as a punishment. The unhealthy trend must no longer be allowed to continue running wild.
This is indeed the core issue. Now that banners and posters advocating "independence for Hong Kong" have appeared on the campuses of several universities, so what an issue is this in nature? Is it a serious political incident or an issue of so-called "freedom of speech"? Should the university authorities stop and deal with such malpractice in time and in accordance with the law or allow it to go on by emphasising that students have the freedom and right to express their opinions? University authorities should face and answer this question.
In fact, the appearance of banners and posters advocating "independence for Hong Kong" on university campuses is absolutely an erroneous, unacceptable law-breaking behaviour, nothing to do at all with the freedoms of speech and expression.
Regarding this, a responsible figure of the CUHK Student Union who had posted posters advocating "independence for Hong Kong" once arrogantly asked, or pretended to be puzzled by, the question: "Which law on earth are we violating?" As a university student, he should know in the first place that Article 1 of the Basic Law already stipulates in black and white that "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China". If he is ignorant of the Basic Law, then at least he should know Hong Kong's laws. Section 10 of the Crimes Ordinance stipulates that any person who "utters any seditious words", or "prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes, displays or reproduces any seditious publication", shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable for a first offence to a fine of $5,000 and to imprisonment for 2 years; and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for 3 years, and any seditious publication shall be forfeited.
Therefore, those students who have openly hung banners and posted posters advocating "independence for Hong Kong" should stop turning their heads and give up any attempt to cover up their erroneous behaviour with the pretext of freedom of speech. You must take up responsibilities, including the legal responsibility, for your own words and deeds.
On the other hand, how shameful and pitiful a person is who, as a young university student in today's Hong Kong, does not know about his social and national responsibilities, does not know how hard earned are the nation's strength and status today, does not know that the 1.3 billion Chinese people are still working hard for the reconstruction of their own country, and does not know that China must resolutely safeguard its own sovereignty, security and interests from being violated in face of the current constantly changing international situation, so that he not only declines to fulfil his civic responsibilities but instead calls out for "independence" in the SAR "having learned some foreign words"! University teachers are duty-bound to teach such absurdly ignorant young people how to behave themselves!
08 September 2017
