Chinese University of Hong Kong journalism teacher Allan Au ‘on leave’ after op-eds ruled ‘seditious’
Hong Kong Free Press
Veteran Hong Kong journalist Allan Au has been marked as “on leave” from his teaching position at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), five days after four op-eds he wrote for shuttered independent media outlet Stand News were ruled “seditious” in a landmark trial.
Local media reported on Tuesday morning the website of CUHK’s School of Journalism and Communication, where Au was set to teach three courses from September, showed Au as currently “on leave.”
Using online tools to track previous records of websites, HKFP found a timetable from mid-August showing that Au was scheduled to teach “Introduction to Journalism” for undergraduates, and “Broadcast journalism” for graduates for the first semester of 2024-25.
Au was also supposed to co-teach the “Laws and Ethics for Communication” course alongside Chan Yuen Ting.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the online timetable has revised the names of teaching staff for Introduction to Journalism and Broadcast journalism simply to “teacher.” The course Laws and Ethics for Communication will be taught solely by Chan.
CUHK did not respond to a question from HKFP about how long Au would be on leave.
In response to enquiries from HKFP, Au said that he did not have any comment.
CUHK said Au had applied for leave “due to personal reasons.”
“The school has made arrangement so that relevant courses will not be affected, ” it said in a Chinese written response.
A veteran media worker, Au graduated from CUHK’s School of Journalism and Communication in 1990 and worked for Hong Kong broadcaster TVB for nearly 20 years as a reporter, a producer and a host. He obtained a PhD degree at the school in 2016.
Au used to contribute to a number of local media outlets, including Stand News, the Hong Kong Economic Journal, and Ming Pao. In 2021, He was fired from RTHK amid a government-directed editorial overhaul.
‘Seditious’ articles
Last Thursday, the District Court delivered a long-awaited verdict in the Stand News case, finding the outlet’s parent company and two of its former editors guilty of sedition. The ruling marked the first such conviction of journalists in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Judge Kwok Wai-kin said he found found 11 articles published in 2020 and 2021 by Stand News to be “seditious” under a political atmosphere where “many residents were dissatisfied with or even opposing the [Hong Kong] and [central] governments.”
Among the 11 articles were four op-eds written by Au on the national security law and the sedition law, and their impact on Hong Kong.
Au was arrested by national security police in April 2022. Local media outlets reported citing sources that Au was arrested for allegedly conspiring to publish seditious materials, under the colonial-era anti-sedition legislation.
Au was not charged following the arrest.
The colonial-era sedition law has been repealed and replaced by new security legislation enacted in March and known locally as Article 23. Under the new law, the maximum penalty for sedition has been raised to seven years in jail, up from two years, while offenders found to have colluded with an “external force” may face a maximum of 10 years behind bars.
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