Hong Kong's Carrie Lam resigns from honorary fellowship at UK's Cambridge University

Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam has resigned from an honorary scholarship to a college at Cambridge University in Britain on August 15, media reports confirmed. Lam’s decision to return her fellowship came after the University questioned her inclination and commitment to human rights and freedom of expression. However, in a presser, Lam called Cambridge University’s assertions as “baseless.” 

I was very disappointed that the College was going to question others with an unfounded, downgrading attitude, and therefore it was difficult to convince myself to continue any link with Walson College, Lam wrote on Facebook as she posted a photo of herself in Cambridge.

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While speaking at the press conference, Lam expressed disappointment at the UK Cambridge University’s groundless “hearsay” allegations instead of facts. She said she renounced the title of Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College voluntarily. “Following my earlier offer to cancel my US visa, yesterday I also took the initiative to return to the honorary Academy of Walson College at Cambridge University,” Lam wrote on Facebook. Further, she alleged that she had received a letter from the college authorities that insisted she answered basic human rights and freedom of the press questionnaire.  

In a statement, the college reportedly said that it asked Lam about her commitment and driver for protection of the human rights and the freedom of expression in Hong Kong following recent events, but she resigned in response.  

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Following the developments, the university’s Executive Council‘s website scrapped Lam’s annual declaration of registrable interests document. As per reports, Lam said that she would be “cutting ties” with university completely, following its behaviour of questioning her stance related to academic freedoms in view of exploitation of the pro-democratic forces in Hong Kong. A top university official was quoted as saying in a report that the Hong Kong universities have academic freedom and institutional autonomy, as Lam insisted, however, those that questioned the government were taken into custody as per Hong Kong's draconian security law. 

[A suspended Cambridge Honorary Fellow title is seen on Carrie Lam’s annual declaration of registrable interests document published on the Executive Council’s website. Credit: https://www.ceo.gov.hk/exco/eng/interests.html]

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