Academic freedom in Hong Kong experienced a “substantial” decline between 2013 and 2023, a study which reviewed research freedom, institutional autonomy and other indicators in more than 170 countries and regions has found.
Hong Kong ranked in the bottom 10 to 20 per cent among 179 countries and regions in the latest Academic Freedom Index compiled by researchers from the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany and V-Dem in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Other countries and regions in that range included Jordan, Cambodia, Russia and India.
The index released last month showed that Hong Kong scored 0.24 out of 1 in terms of the extent to which academic freedom was respected in the city in 2023, the same as the previous year. But it marked a significant decrease compared to 0.69 recorded in 2013, the researchers wrote, highlighting the city’s name in red.
“Red country names indicate cases of substantial, statistically significant decreasing cases of academic freedom over the past ten years,” the report read, adding that the data from last year demonstrated that academic freedom was “under threat globally.”
Beijing-imposed law
In a report issued last March, the research team said the Beijing-enacted national security law, which came into force in 2020, had put “unprecedented pressure” on academic freedom in Hong Kong.
According to the figures released last month, scholars at FAU and V-Dem found that Hong Kong showed a decline in all five indicators of academic freedom compared to 2013. The city scored 1.52 out of four in freedom to research and teach, which assessed the extent to which scholars were free to develop and pursue their own research and teaching agenda without interference.
In the area of academic exchange and dissemination, measured by the degree to which scholars are free to exchange and communicate research ideas and findings, Hong Kong scored 1.65 out of four.
The city attained 1.33 points out of four in terms of the extent to which universities exercised institutional autonomy in practice. Hong Kong’s score in campus integrity – indicated by the degree of which campuses were free from political motivated surveillance or security infringements – stood at 1.70 out of four.
The only indicator which rose slightly from the score recorded in 2022 was academic and cultural expression. The indicator reflecting whether there was academic freedom and cultural expression related to political issues increased from 1.31 in 2022 to 1.36 last year.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
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