A History of Student Movements at HKU (1912–2026)

Unofficial-history section · Module 14. This article is a general history and index of student movements at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), presenting different accounts side by side without adjudicating between them. Events from 2019 and related on-campus political matters are handled per §6.2 and are not narrated here — links only. Current office-holders are referred to by title, not by name; individuals in contested contexts are referred to as "Surname + Mr./Ms."

# Files in this module

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# Century timeline of student movements (quick reference)

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# I. Founding and early years of the Students' Union (1912–1945)

According to Wikipedia^※, the Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU) was founded on October 16, 1912, initially under the name "Hong Kong University Union," roughly a month after HKU's first academic year began. Its stated purpose was to represent students in communication with the university administration and to give students a collective voice.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, the union's activities ceased along with the university's suspension of operations (1941–1945). It was reorganised after the war in 1946 under the name "Hong Kong University Students' Union"; it was formally revived in 1947 and, in 1949, attained the status of an organisation self-governing and independent of university administration^※.

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# II. The Fiery Era: student movements and the Chinese Language Campaign, 1960s–70s

📂 See the deep dive at fiery-era-1970s.md (the Chinese Language Campaign · Defend the Diaoyu Islands · anti-corruption · the Golden Jubilee incident · factional divides)

According to Wikipedia's entry on 1970s Hong Kong student protests^※, student movements in Hong Kong (including at HKU) during the 1960s–70s centred on criticism of colonialism, concern for the working class, and the push for Chinese to gain official-language status, and were also influenced by the global left-wing student movements of the period and China's Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). This period is referred to as the "Fiery Era." A brief overview:

• The Chinese Language Campaign: HKUSU was the first to petition, in 1967, for Chinese to be made an official language^※, a campaign that eventually led the Hong Kong government to pass the Official Languages Ordinance in 1974, giving Chinese official status.
• The Defend the Diaoyu Islands movement (1971): a rally at Victoria Park on July 7, 1971, in defence of the Diaoyu Islands was dispersed by police^※, an event regarded as marking the start of the wave of 1970s student movements.
• The anti-corruption "Catch Godber" campaign (1973–74) and the Golden Jubilee incident (1977–78): initiated or supported by tertiary student unions, including HKUSU.
• Factional divides: the Nationalist (Maoist), Social, and Trotskyist factions were split; the influence of the Nationalist faction declined sharply after Mao Zedong's death in 1976^※.

The Students' Union's official publication, Undergrad, ran a large volume of social-movement commentary during this period, which it described as providing "guiding thought for the student movement."

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# III. 1989: The Tiananmen solidarity movement

📂 See the deep dive at tiananmen-1989.md (class boycott and mass march · delegation to Beijing · the Pillar of Shame dispute)

According to Wikipedia's entry on HKUSU^※, around the time of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen events, HKUSU and the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) were actively involved in solidarity efforts: the HKFS sent a delegation to Beijing by air, bringing tents and roughly HK$1 million in donations, and stayed with students occupying Tiananmen Square^※.

After the events of June 4, HKUSU passed a motion calling for the Chinese government to be held accountable for the Tiananmen crackdown^※.

# The Pillar of Shame

According to a 2021 official statement from the HKU Council^※, a sculpture titled the Pillar of Shame, created by a Danish sculptor (referred to here as "Mr. Golsher," per the source's own convention), was installed on the HKU campus starting in 1998. According to Wikipedia, citing the results of a 1998 student-wide referendum held by the Students' Union^※, the Students' Union had voted in favour of a resolution that the sculpture should remain on the HKU campus permanently.

According to the HKU Council's December 2021 statement: "No party has ever obtained approval from the University to display the statue on our campus and the University has the right to take appropriate actions to handle it at any time." The Council decided at its December 22, 2021 meeting to remove the sculpture, and removal was completed in the early hours of the following day.^※

According to reports, the sculpture's creator, Mr. Golsher, said he was "totally shocked," stated that he would pursue compensation for the loss of private property, and asked the university to disclose the sculpture's whereabouts.

The matter remains unresolved to date (the sculpture's storage location has not been officially disclosed).

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# IV. 2014: HKU students during the Umbrella Movement

Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement broke out in 2014, calling for genuine universal suffrage. According to a 2022 Foreign Policy report^※, HKU student participation was fairly extensive; this page does not go into named individuals, to avoid BLP concerns.

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# V. Rise and fall of student organisations: leaving the HKFS (2015), the end of the Students' Union (2021), and the HKFS's dissolution (2026)

📂 See the deep dive at unions-and-federation.md (the full arc of HKUSU · Undergrad · the HKFS)

• Leaving the HKFS, 2015: following the 2014 Umbrella Movement, HKUSU held a referendum in February 2015 that passed in favour of leaving the HKFS^※, part of a wider wave of departures that reduced HKFS membership from 8 institutions to 4.

• The end of the Students' Union, 2021: according to Wikipedia^※ and an RFA report^※:

HKUSU formally ceased operations, ending a history of more than 109 years since 1912. According to a 2022 Diplomat article^※, HKUSU was the first among the student unions of several Hong Kong universities in that period to have its recognition ended.

• HKFS dissolution, 2026: according to a 2026 Dim Sum Daily report^※, on February 5, 2026, the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), founded 68 years earlier, announced its dissolution, ending a history dating back to 1958.

# Statements from different parties

According to HKU's official position (official statement): the end of recognition was made out of consideration for student safety and the university's reputation, and the university expressed "grave concern" over the motion.

According to reports by The Diplomat and other foreign media, the 2021 end of the Students' Union was interpreted by some observers as one sign of a tightening political environment at HKU.

Statements from different parties are presented side by side; this page does not adjudicate between them.

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# VI. 2019-related events (link directory)

⚠ HKU on-campus events from 2019 (including any content related to on-campus clashes, occupations, or similar) are handled per §6.2 and are not narrated here — sources are listed only.

Related sources: → 18-wilder-movements link directory

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