1,000 CUHK students, staff and alumni petition to reinstate student expelled following nat. sec arrest

2026-02-23 - 08:45

More than a thousand students, staff, and alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of a student who was expelled following his reported arrest by national security police. University student Miles Kwan speaks to reporters outside Tai Po MTR Station on November 28, 2025. He is arrested later for seditious intention. Photo: HKFP. The petition also called on the university to acknowledge that a disciplinary hearing held on January 7 over CUHK student Miles Kwan’s conduct was invalid due to breaches of due process. The petition said that the hearing was “prima facie illegal for its procedural improprieties and unfairness.” As of Sunday evening, two days after the petition was launched, more than 1,000 signatures had been collected, according to an email to the press. Kwan, 24, said earlier this month that he was kicked out of CUHK after six years of study. He told HKFP that the university convened the January meeting with a disciplinary panel, which he described as a “kangaroo panel” and a “disgrace.” He also said he was never informed of the acts of misconduct that he had allegedly committed. Kwan was reportedly arrested by national security police on suspicion of sedition in late November, after he created a petition calling for an independent probe into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire. His petition also called for government accountability, proper resettlement for residents, and a review of construction oversight. ‘Procedural justice’ The CUHK petition was launched on Friday by “a group of students, staff, and alumni” who said they were “concerned with procedural justice in university governance.” Students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Photo: GovHK. It alleged that the disciplinary committee disregarded established procedures and deprived Kwan of “his fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair hearing.” The petition pointed out that the panel convened the January hearing while Kwan’s case was still under investigation. That contravened CUHK’s Procedures for Handling Student Disciplinary Cases, which state that cases undergoing police investigation or legal proceedings should be handled after the result or judgment is known, it added. The petition also criticised the committee for adding two new charges on Kwan, which were imposed without prior notification to the student. The committee accused Kwan of breach of confidentiality rules after allegedly leaking a confidential notice for the meeting and of “impolite and disrespectful attitude towards the panel.” The former “Democracy Wall” at CUHK. Photo: Lea Mok/HKFP. The petition urged the university to acknowledge that the hearing was invalid due to breaches of due process, revoke all findings and penalties against Kwan issued during the hearing, and immediately reinstate his studies. It also called on the school to “comprehensively review and rectify the procedures to meet the requirements of [a] fair hearing and natural justice.” HKFP has reached out to CUHK for comment.