Hong Kong | The Hong Kong chief executive, Carrie Lam, said on Saturday evening that she had “returned” her title of honorary member of one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge as a protest against accusations of infringement of liberty. education in the city.
Ms Lam said she severed ties with the prestigious university’s Wolfson College, where she studied, in response to concerns expressed by the college over freedom of expression in Hong Kong.
She said she was “deeply disappointed with the college that slanders a person on the basis of hearsay rather than fact.”
“Therefore, I can hardly convince myself to keep a relationship with Wolfson College,” she wrote on Facebook Saturday night.
In her message, she “rejected” wanting to end freedoms in the territory, saying that these accusations are “unfounded”.
Wolfson College said it recently expressed to the Hong Kong leader its concerns about “her commitment to the protection of human rights and freedom of expression”.
The governing body of this college was to consider in September the title of honorary member of Ms. Lam.
The chief executive, appointed by Beijing, is one of eleven Chinese and Hong Kong leaders targeted by the United States after Beijing’s decision to impose a draconian national security law on the semi-autonomous territory at the end of June.
This liberticidal text strengthens China’s grip on Hong Kong.
Since its entry into force, around twenty pro-democracy activists have been arrested, including media mogul Jimmy Lai, owner of two titles critical of the Chinese regime.
Candidates for the legislative elections were invalidated and books deemed to violate the new law were withdrawn from the shelves of libraries and schools in the city.
Three prominent academics were sacked after being jailed for their role in 2014 in the “Umbrella Movement”.
Hong Kong is among the top universities in Asia, but Chinese leaders have made it clear that they regard the city’s education system as one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy movement.
They ordered local authorities to instill a more “patriotic” education and to ensure that the recent law is respected.
Since last year, Wolfson College has been under pressure to withdraw the honorary title from the leader.