Hong Kong authorities are investigating a center connected to the president of a major university who spoke out on behalf of students when the campus was besieged by riot police during the 2019 protest movement.
Chinese University of Hong Kong President Rocky Tuan has been denounced publicly by a former city leader in recent weeks, and hasn't been seen in public recently due to reported "sickness," according to multiple media reports.
The city's Independent Commission Against Corruption said it is investigating allegations of "corruption and misappropriation of public funds" at a medical research center affiliated with the university.
The director of the center is Cecilia Lo, Tuan’s wife.
"ICAC officers today conducted an investigation and collected evidence at the CUHK, including interviews and searching premises in accordance with warrants issued by the court," the Commission said in a statement dated Aug. 11 on its website.
"No arrest has been made at this stage. As enquiries are ongoing, no further comment will be made," it said.
The Sing Tao Daily and the Ming Pao both reported that the center in question is the Cardiovascular Genomic Medicine Center, which is directed by Cecilia Lo, who is also a visiting professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Riot police seige
Tuan made international headlines when he got tear-gassed after riot police besieged the university campus on Nov. 12, 2019, pursuing fleeing students onto a sports field while unleashing a hail of rubber bullets and more than 1,000 rounds of tear gas.
A pall of smoke rose above the university after students set up barricades and threw petrol bombs to prevent riot police from entering the campus as Tuan and other senior members of staff tried to negotiate with police to stand down and defuse the standoff. He also broke down and wept during a meeting with students.
The investigation into Lo's medical center comes after former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying has repeatedly criticized Tuan on Facebook in recent weeks, calling on his supporters to "explain" his conduct during the 2019 protest movement.
"Anyone who defends Rocky Tuan shouldn't beat about the bush – they must account for and take responsibility for his words and actions during the CUHK riot, for everything he did," Leung, who is currently vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, wrote on his Facebook page on Aug. 7.
"They must also take responsibility for this person's future words and deeds," he said.
In an Aug. 5 post, Leung wrote: "Uncle Tuan proved himself to be a useless and cowardly person during the [protests]."
Crackdown on dissent
Leung's denunciation of Tuan comes as authorities in Hong Kong continue to crack down on all forms of public dissent and peaceful political opposition after Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in July 2020.
It also comes as pro-Beijing lawmaker Tommy Cheung spearheads a bid to restructure the way the university is run. His fellow lawmakers have denied they are going after Tuan, who was further denounced for failing to turn up at a Legislative Council committee to defend his record earlier this month.
They want changes to the voting system for approval of vice-chancellors, with more government appointees on the governing body, according to an Aug. 10 report in the South China Morning Post.
"Each time Tuan failed to show up, he was criticized anew, with suggestions that he should go," the paper reported.
Current affairs commentator Sang Pu said Leung is acting as a "standard bearer" for public denunciation of Tuan, paving the way for his removal in a proposed "restructuring" plan initiated by Beijing-backed lawmakers.
"Some people thought there was enough room for checks and balances on the regime's mistakes, some way to reform a dictator from within," Sang said of the Chinese University of Hong Kong leadership. "Some of them tried to oppose the restructuring plan ... but then they seemed to obey the party, and change their attitudes."
"It's a lot like it was back in the Cultural Revolution."
"The dictator has said ‘no,’ and then they'll arrest the 'chief conspirator' Rocky Tuan," Sang said. "Their suppression of him will show everyone that this is the result of such soft confrontation."
‘Soft confrontation’
Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang has warned that the authorities could expand their use of the national security law to include "soft confrontation."
"Those who advocate 'Hong Kong independence' haven't completely given up, and they are still determined to continue to use the media, culture and art, for various forms of 'soft confrontation'," Tang said in comments quoted on the official government website in 2021.
Tang mentioned media documentaries, student politics and the sale of books, photos and other memorabilia as examples of "soft confrontation."
Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said such denunciations often involved complex political struggles.
"Right now, things are very similar to the Cultural Revolution," Lau said. "Denunciations are only one similarity."
He said the Independent Commission Against Corruption appears to have become politicized under the current crackdown.
"Regardless of what its motives are, it has turned up the political pressure on society," he said. "People can't help but try to connect the dots and wonder who got reported, and whether they are going after the organization or an individual."
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.