An ¡°apolitical¡± students¡¯ union forming at one of Hong Kong¡¯s leading universities could become a model for groups at other nearby institutions where learners are still without representation.

Nearly a year since the Chinese University of Hong Kong¡¯s students¡¯ union disbanded, following growing tensions with administrators over students¡¯ involvement in politics, CUHK has signalled that the union can re-form ¨C under certain conditions.

The new union, which is expected to start functioning this coming spring, will need to steer clear of politics, according to?.

Relationships between students¡¯ unions and administrators in Hong Kong universities have been on a?rocky footing since 2019, when student-led protests erupted across the island in response to the National Security Law, which was widely seen as a clampdown on political dissidents. This April, Hong Kong Polytechnic University cut ties with its students¡¯ union, becoming the fifth institution to?push its students¡¯ body off campus since the law came into force, according to?.

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If it goes ahead as planned, the re-establishment of CUHK¡¯s students¡¯ union could point the way forward for student leaders at other Hong Kong institutions.

Owen Au, a recent CUHK graduate who served as students¡¯ union president in 2018, said that student leaders on the island have ¡°no choice but¡± to take an apolitical approach.

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¡°It is actually a question of ¡®to be or not to be¡¯: either function in a depoliticised form and work in low profile, or being disbanded,¡± he said.

¡°It is believed that even if student leaders nowadays choose to touch some politically sensitive issues, no change can be made except risking their personal safety and the existence of [the] students¡¯ union.¡±

Anson Law, a CUHK student who is involved in re-establishing its students¡¯ union, said that the existence of students¡¯ unions, even ones ¡°limited to campus policy issues¡±, was still preferable to the alternative. He believed that students have some leeway to voice their views on sensitive topics ¨C provided they do not irk administrators.

¡°Rather than not being able to [speak] out on particular issues, I think students have to express their views in a mild way,¡± he said.

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He told Times Higher Education that, for CUHK¡¯s students¡¯ union to re-form, it must be a separate legal entity, be bilingual and open to full-time postgraduate students.

While he felt that widening participation in the union ¡°may allow more voices being considered¡±, non-local students and postgraduates may not be ¡°familiar or interested¡± in CUHK issues.

William Lo, a professor at the Education University of Hong Kong, was positive about the formation of a new union, saying, ¡°we need student participation in university governance¡±.

He suggested that broadening participation to non-locals and postgraduate students might be beneficial, given the university¡¯s highly international student body and because its postgraduate education had ¡°expanded significantly¡± in the last couple of decades.

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¡°I don¡¯t think the voice of specific groups should dominate the student representation,¡± he said.

Others were less enthused. A CUHK student involved in past student representation, who wished to remain anonymous, was sceptical that in the ¡°current apathetic atmosphere¡± many students were ¡°well informed and involved¡± in creating a new union. She also worried that the reinstatement of a students¡¯ union would ¡°deter students from forming concern groups or initiating political action upon huge events like they used to¡±.

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Still, she said, this may be inevitable. ¡°Ultimately, the influence of the CUHK students¡¯ union has been declining in recent years. It¡¯s deemed to be a symbolic group rather than having actual organising power.¡±

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com