I HAVE received a letter from a Chinese friend from our days as undergraduates at the University of Hong Kong just after the Second World War.

She and I came up to Oxford together after we graduated and she subsequently became registrar of HKU – by then a very much larger institution. She writes: “Following the recent problems as a rescuer of HK Council interfering with our (i.e. HKU’s) governance and staff appointments, convocation, which comprises all graduates and current staff, is holding an extraordinary meeting on September 1 to vote on the motion that a university should maintain its academic independence and be free from political pressure and instructions.”

She is collecting proxy forms from as many graduates as she can who now live outside Hong Kong to support the motion. I am sure that all alumni of Oxford, Cambridge and any other British university, would heartily support it too.

HKU was the first university to be founded in Hong Kong over 100 years ago under British auspices and is English speaking. It has always upheld the freedom of teaching and speech, not always noticeable in Chinese academic institutions. I beg anyone with any interest or influence in this matter to exert themselves on behalf of the foremost university in the Far East and one of the best universities in the world.

VALERIE BARNISH
Osberton Road, Summertown