De-Recognition" of the Student Union — HKU's 2021 Break with Its Students' Union and the Council Motion Controversy

Wild-history section · Module 14 · Deep-dive No. 4. This entry presents claims in layers according to evidential strength, sets multiple accounts side by side, and does not adjudicate. Where living individuals or persons connected to legal cases are involved, publicly reported full names are reproduced as reported; the account of case proceedings follows court records and media reporting.

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Summary: On 13 July 2021, HKU announced it would no longer recognise the campus role of the Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU), an organisation founded over a century earlier (on 16 October 1912^※). The immediate trigger was a Council motion passed 30 votes in favour, 2 abstentions^※, expressing "deep sadness" and "gratitude for the sacrifice" of Mr. Leung, the man who fatally stabbed a police officer and then himself on 1 July. Four Council members were subsequently arrested in August 2021 and, in September 2023, pleaded guilty to incitement to wound; they were sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment each (reduced to 15 months on appeal)^※.

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# A century-old institution: what was the HKU Students' Union?

The Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU, "the Students' Union" below) was founded on 16 October 1912^※, about a month after HKU's first academic year began. Originally named the "Hong Kong University Union," it was one of the oldest university student union organisations in Hong Kong. In 1949, the Union formally registered with police as an independent society and adopted its current name; "unity, independence" became its motto^※, establishing the legal basis on which it operated independently of the university administration for more than seventy years thereafter.

Through the second half of the twentieth century, the Union was known for its publication Undergrad, its involvement in social issues, and inter-university joint statements; it also took part in the 1989 Tiananmen solidarity activities (see this module's dedicated file, "1989 Tiananmen Solidarity and the Pillar of Shame"). Into the 2010s, the Union spoke out in a number of Hong Kong social movements; up to the 2021 controversy, the university's formal recognition of the Union had continued for more than a century.

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# April 2021: the university first cuts financial and facility ties

The earliest signs of the controversy appeared in late April 2021, about two and a half months before the July motion. On 30 April 2021, HKU's Registrar sent a letter to all students^※ announcing three immediate measures: ceasing to collect membership fees on the Union's behalf, ending financial management services provided to the Union, and reclaiming management of the Union's premises and other facilities.

In its statement, the university attributed these measures to the Union "repeatedly using the campus as a platform for political propaganda," making "inflammatory statements that could potentially be unlawful," and levelling "unfounded allegations" against the university, which it said had damaged years of built-up trust. The statement said "the University is not a place beyond the law and has a responsibility to safeguard the wellbeing of all staff and students"^※. This action effectively severed the Union from the university at the financial and premises level, though the title of "formal recognition" had not yet been withdrawn.

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# 1 July: the 1 July incident and Mr. Leung

On 1 July 2021, the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover, a man (Mr. Leung, then aged 50) stabbed a police officer with a knife in Causeway Bay and then fatally stabbed himself. The incident sparked wide controversy in Hong Kong society that same day; police characterised it as a lone-wolf attack on a police officer, and some reporting has framed the incident against the backdrop of heightened political tension in Hong Kong following the implementation of the National Security Law (which took effect in 2020). Accounts differ sharply on how to characterise Mr. Leung's actions and motives; this file sets the differing accounts side by side without adjudicating.

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# 7 July: the Council's emergency meeting and the mourning motion

On 7 July 2021^※, the HKU Students' Union Council held an emergency meeting and passed a motion concerning the 1 July incident. According to multiple media reports and subsequent court documents, the motion included: "deep sadness" (express deep sadness) over Mr. Leung's death, condolences to his family, and "appreciation for his sacrifice to Hong Kong" (appreciate his sacrifice to Hong Kong).

After the motion passed, it was published on the Union's social media and drew swift, strong criticism from Hong Kong society. Then-Chief Executive Ms. Carrie Lam publicly stated that the motion "makes me angry, in three capacities — as Chief Executive, as Chancellor of HKU, and as an ordinary member of the public"^※.

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# 9 July: apology and resignation of the executive committee

Two days after the motion passed, on 9 July 2021^※, then-Union President Kwok Wing-ho held a press conference to apologise publicly, stating that the motion was being withdrawn and that there had been no intention to encourage unlawful conduct; the entire executive committee resigned immediately. However, the apology and withdrawal did not halt subsequent action by the university and law-enforcement authorities.

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# 13 July: HKU announces "no longer recognised"

On 13 July 2021^※, HKU formally issued a statement announcing that it would "no longer recognise the Hong Kong University Students' Union (as an independently registered society) in its existing campus role," and that it would conduct a "serious investigation" into the Council motion, and cleared all material from the Union's "Democracy Wall" noticeboard.

HKU official statement (13 July 2021): the university said it "strongly condemned [the Union]'s open glorification of violence, its challenge to the moral bottom line of society, and the damage done to the reputation and interests of the entire HKU family." (Source: Sina Military, 13 July 2021)^※

This marked the end of the university's formal recognition relationship with the Union. Since its founding in 1912^※ and independent registration in 1949^※, the Union's institutional relationship with HKU had continued for approximately 109 years before this break.

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# 15–21 July: the Students' Union Composite Building is reclaimed

Two days after announcing the end of recognition, the university issued the Union an ultimatum on 15 July^※, requiring it to vacate the Students' Union Composite Building within seven days. On 21 July, the Union moved out; the building's locks were changed by staff that day^※, with security personnel stationed outside, and the Union Council's meeting chamber was also sealed off, which the university explained as being for "renovation." The loss of the Composite Building meant the Union lost its physical base of operations on campus.

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# 16 July–August: National Security Police search and campus bans

In its 4 August statement, the Council characterised the campus ban as an "immediate risk-management measure," citing that the presence of the students concerned would expose the university to "serious legal and reputational risk." The statement said the Union's conduct amounted to "serious misconduct" and an attempt "to glorify and excuse a violent attack"^※. Dissenting voices also emerged within HKU's academic community: HKU legal scholar Eric Cheung Tat-ming resigned from the Council shortly afterward, criticising the measures as a breach of due process^※, and seven other Council members jointly called for the ban to be withdrawn.

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# Arrest and trial of the four Council members

On 18 August 2021^※, National Security Police arrested four former members of the HKU Students' Union Council, all then current or former students aged 19 to 20: Kwok Wing-ho (former President), Charles Kwong King-sang (Council Chairperson), Chris Todorovski (former hall representative), and Yung Chung-hin (external vice-chair). The four were initially suspected of "advocating terrorism" under Article 27 of the National Security Law (maximum sentence of 10 years) and were released on bail pending trial.

After several adjournments, on 11 September 2023^※, prosecutors withdrew the "advocating terrorism" charge, and the four defendants instead pleaded guilty to "incitement to wound with intent" (maximum sentence of 7 years). The four were each sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment^※; on appeal, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal ruled in September 2024 that the original sentencing starting point had been too high and reduced the sentences to 15 months.

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# Was this a "dissolution"? Accounts differ

After the "break," accounts diverge on how to interpret the Union's legal status:

The university's position (official): HKU stated only that it would "no longer recognise" the Union's campus role, and did not itself "dissolve" the Union. As a society independently registered under the Societies Ordinance, the Union's legal continuation was said to be a matter for the Union itself to decide.

Some media and academic observers: since the university simultaneously ended fee collection on the Union's behalf and reclaimed all premises and facilities, the Union in practice lost the conditions needed to operate, which some described as effectively being "forced to dissolve." According to multiple reports, the Union announced it had ceased operations around 13 July 2021^※, bringing to an end an institution that had existed for 109 years.

The Union's own members: with a number of Council members arrested or barred from campus, the space for public response was limited; available material does not show a collective statement by members on the Union's future operations.

The accounts are set side by side here; this file does not adjudicate between them.

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# Ripple effects: student unions at other universities

HKU's break with its Union had knock-on effects on student organisations at other Hong Kong universities. In mid-July 2021, Lingnan University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the City University of Hong Kong each announced they would stop collecting membership fees on behalf of their respective student unions^※, meaning several of Hong Kong's major university student unions lost their university-administered fee-collection channel in near-simultaneous fashion. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Students' Union subsequently announced its dissolution in October 2021, after roughly 50 years^※, its statement expressing "profound regret" over external pressure.

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