A history professor specialising in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown has been sacked by a university in Hong Kong after immigration authorities denied her a visa, with the scholar earlier questioned over whether she had ties to foreign governments.
A government spokesman on Saturday declined to comment on individual cases and said the Immigration Department handled each visa request in accordance with the relevant policies. He stressed that successful applicants should avoid being flagged for security or criminal concerns.
Rowena He Xiaoqing, a former associate professor at Chinese University’s history department, confirmed to the Post on Sunday that the institution had fired her on Friday after the department rejected her visa extension application two days before.
“The attack on me is not just an attack on myself, but an attack on intellectual freedom and an attack on honest scholarship,” she said. “It’s almost like you try to do your research, you try to do a good job as an educator, but you are being punished.”
US human rights professor denied Hong Kong visa for university teaching position
US human rights professor denied Hong Kong visa for university teaching position
The Canadian national began teaching at the university in 2019 after working at US institutions that included Harvard University, Wellesley College and Saint Michael’s College.
The scholar’s research focuses on the Tiananmen movement in 1989 and its immediate aftermath, as well as covering topics such as academic freedom and censorship.
He said she had first become concerned in July of last year after waiting a month to hear from the department about her application, despite her initial bid in 2019 and previous renewal request in 2021 going smoothly.
The academic contacted the department at the end of that month and had received a list of questions concerning the funding sources for past projects at universities in the United States and whether she had ties to NGOs or foreign governments, she said.
“I wasn’t quite sure what exactly that meant – connections or relationships, but I answered them seriously and submitted a whole big package I prepared,” He said. “I just printed out public information about the universities I have worked for.”
Chinese University followed up on her application as the historian went to the US to take up a competitive fellowship at the National Humanities Centre, an independent non-profit research institute, but there were no further updates at the time.
The department sent a rejection email to He last Wednesday, prompting the university to terminate her position two days later.
In a letter seen by the Post, the university’s director of human resources said the scholar’s position had been “terminated with immediate effect”, as visa clearance was a requisite of her employment.
“I was shocked, I thought at least I would have someone from [university] administration talk to me, instead of just sending me this termination letter right away,” He said.
However, a university spokesman defended the visa requirement imposed on non-permanent staff and said the institution had no control over the approval process.
“Visa decisions are a matter for the Immigration Department and the university is unable to influence visa outcomes, and nor is it aware of the circumstances of individual cases,” the spokesman said.
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He on Sunday also claimed she was briefly held at the city’s airport after passing through customs in August, without any explanation from local authorities. The historian was asked no questions at the time, she added.
The scholar said she currently held the position of senior research fellow at the University of Texas and had only received short-term working opportunities from other intuitions so far, but hoped something more secure would turn up so she could continue her work.
He also expressed concern that her case could have a chilling effect on the academic environment in Hong Kong.
“This is almost like you’re setting an example. Does that mean every university will follow suit?” she said.
“My idea was that I had to survive, I had to be low profile in order to continue to do my work with my students in our space, but of course, it no longer matters as I cannot go back to that space.”