Hong Kong: A change of heart by one of Hong Kong’s most prominent university leaders, who has taken a stand against police abuse, has led to calls for the city’s oldest university to do the same.

Hong Kong universities have grappled with how to handle tensions between protesting local students and patriotic mainland students on campuses where non-local enrolments are capped at 20 per cent.

Protest posters on a Lennon Wall at Hong Kong University. Credit:Kirsty Needham

But the discovery by Chinese University of Hong Kong’s vice-chancellor Rocky Tuan, a world-renowned biomedical scientist, of the serious mistreatment of 20 students by police, has changed the debate from one of free speech over Lennon Walls, to protecting human rights.

An emergency meeting of the more than 3000 alumni of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) passed a motion on Saturday calling for Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam to resign as the university’s chancellor.