Academic freedom at the University of Hong Kong has been snuffed out by forces loyal to Beijing, critics have claimed, after the institution¡¯s council voted to reject the appointment of a liberal professor to the post of pro vice-chancellor.

Johannes Chan¡¯s appointment was rejected by 12 votes to eight in a vote yesterday, going against the wishes of the university¡¯s president and the search committee that nominated him.?

Ip Kin-yuen, a lawmaker and head of an HKU alumni association, told Reuters that it was ¡°obvious¡± the decision had been a ¡°political one¡± and added that ¡°academic freedom will no longer exist after this¡±.

Peter Mathieson, the British president of HKU, told the news agency before the vote that he thought that there had been ¡°orchestrated¡± pressure on him and others who backed the appointment of Professor Chan.

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He also said that his personal emails had been hacked and published in pro-Beijing media, and could not rule out that Beijing was behind it.

Following pro-democracy protests that brought parts of the city to a standstill a year ago, academics have feared that Beijing is trying to strengthen its control over universities to prevent a repeat of the episode.

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Last month, scholars told Times Higher Education how they believed they had been smeared by pro-Beijing press and passed over for promotion for being ¡°politically incorrect¡± in the eyes of Beijing, although this was disputed by universities and other academics.

Professor Chan¡¯s appointment was seen as a key battle in the fight for academic freedom in Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post that the Liaison Office, an agency of China¡¯s mainland government, had been lobbying council members to vote against Professor Chan in the run-up to the vote.?

david.matthews@tesglobal.com