In light of events on Sunday 21st July, we urge Anglia Ruskin University and Vice-Chancellor Roderick Watkins to review their affiliation with Junius Ho and revoke his honorary doctorate.

我們強烈要求英國Anglia Ruskin大學和校長Roderick Watkins重新審視與何君堯的關係，並撤銷他的榮譽博士學位。

UK universities have a tradition of awarding 'honorary' degrees to those they consider to be good representatives in society. In 2011, Anglia Ruskin University awarded the Hong Kong lawyer and legislator Junius Ho an Honorary Doctor of Laws, as "an outstanding ambassador for Anglia Ruskin University in Hong Kong" (1).

In September 2017, Ho was widely condemned and accused of committing ’incitement to violence’ after calling for pro-independence protestors in Hong Kong to be killed "without mercy", adding that "it was no big deal to kill pigs or dogs" (2). Ho later defended his remarks despite them being condemned even by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (3). During the June and July protests, Ho has been heavily critical of protestors and on Monday 15th July he published photos taken around Hong Kong of several western citizens, labelling them as “US spies” (without providing any evidence), making them a target for abuse.

On the afternoon of Sunday 21st July, a march of 430,000 people including elderly and families, many wearing black, took place on Hong Kong Island. Demonstrators included individuals critical of the Hong Kong government's proposed extradition bill, and some that support Hong Kong independence. Later that evening, a gang of 200 to 300 men in white shirts with weapons brutally beat defenceless commuters as they disembarked a train in Yuen Long station. 36 of the victims were hospitalised, with those hurt including journalists and a pregnant woman (4). Over the course of the evening, Junius Ho is seen shaking hands with and congratulating several of the same attackers, giving them a thumbs-up and applause, and calling them "heroes" (5).

Junius Ho claims he was returning from dinner when he passed by the men by chance, and was greeting them only in the manner he would any local resident. Based on the footage, this seems extremely implausible, even before considering his earlier public remarks. Nevertheless, his presence on the scene and the subsequent brutality in Yuen Long station should warrant serious re-examination of his disgraceful 2017 comments and related behaviour.

We strongly urge Anglia Ruskin University to reconsider their endorsement of and association with a man who has publicly supported the murder of protestors and describes those that attack defenceless journalists and pregnant women as “heroic”, and we await a statement from Anglia Ruskin University addressing this matter.

(1)https://aru.ac.uk/graduation-and-alumni/honorary-award-holders2/junius-ho

(2)https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/09/18/pro-beijing-legislator-junius-hos-call-death-independence-activists-may-broken-law-says-exco-member/

(3)https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2112502/hong-kong-lawmaker-junius-ho-should-have-known-better-kill

(4)https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/22/where-were-the-police-hong-kong-outcry-after-masked-thugs-launch-attack

(5)https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/07/22/just-chaos-bloodshed-hong-kong-district-hundreds-masked-men-assault-protesters-journalists-residents/