Shannon Brandao
From the article: "BBC [excerpt]: 'There is no "red line",' in #HongKong any more, says a 30-something humanities professor in the city.
'If they want to come after you, everything can be used as an excuse.' He did not wish to reveal his name because of the repercussions that could follow.
He says his nightmare is being named and attacked by Beijing-backed media, which could cost him his job, or worse, his freedom. That fear has swept through Hong Kong's #universities and academic circles, which once attracted top talent. The city was close to the mainland, yet far enough to host progressive classrooms, world-class libraries and archives that allowed #academicfreedom, even in Chinese studies.
But that is no longer the case, #academics and #students tell the BBC, many choosing to stay anonymous out of fear. In the academic year 2021/22, more than 360 scholars left Hong Kong's eight public universities. The turnover rate - 7.4% - is the highest since 1997, when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, according to official data. Foreign student enrolments have dropped by 13% since 2019.
'The free atmosphere that existed is gone and people are worried,' says Stephan Ortmann, a political scientist at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University. He says many of his colleagues have left and those that remain are wary - he has heard of #teachers who have removed all Hong Kong and #China-related material from their courses.
The self-censorship, academics say, began after the National Security #Law (#NSL) took effect in 2020. The sweeping #legislation targets any behaviour deemed secessionist or subversive, allowing authorities to target activists and ordinary citizens alike.
...[The Chinese University of Hong Kong] was a battleground in 2019, with black-clad protesters and riot police trading petrol bombs, bricks, tear gas and rubber bullets. It bears no signs of dissent now. The #democracy wall, which was once filled with pro-democracy posters and post-it notes, has been stripped bare and barricaded. The statue of the Goddess of Democracy, which was erected in memory of the thousands who died in Beijing's Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, is gone. It was removed in the early hours of Christmas Eve in 2021.
'My friends and I definitely feel a sense of helplessness,' says a CUHK student who didn't want to be identified. 'I chose to study social sciences partly because of the social movement… I want to learn more and contribute more. But now fewer things can be done.'
He has begun avoiding potentially sensitive courses, such as those on Chinese #politics and #history. He is also worried that the research papers he writes can be leaked, despite the university's guarantee to protect students' privacy. His anxiety is not unfounded because Hong Kong now has a hotline where people can report others for breaching the NSL."
#news