Hong Kong government rebuts Human Rights Watch report decrying city’s declining academic freedom

The Hong Kong government has hit back at Human Rights Watch for its critical report on the city’s academic freedom under the Beijing-decreed national security law, saying the report was full of “malicious smears and sweeping remarks” which disregarded the campus riots in 2019 that disrupted normal teaching and research.

A government spokesman on Wednesday also reiterated that the fundamental rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents had “always been guaranteed” at the constitutional level under the city’s Basic Law.

On Tuesday, US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch published a report on what it called “the severe decline in academic freedom and the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly” in Hong Kong’s eight publicly funded universities since June 2020, when the national security law was enacted.

The report said the findings were based on interviews with 25 academics and eight students from all eight universities.

It added students, academics, and administrators – especially those from Hong Kong studying contemporary sociopolitical issues – felt as if they were “living under a microscope” after the law’s enactment.

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