University of Hong Kong Ceases Support for Student Union as Row Over Police Attacker Widens

The University of Hong Kong has ended support of its student union after some of its members were seen to sympathise with a local man who attacked a police officer with a knife in busy Causeway Bay and then killed himself. The local attacker had left behind writing that indicated he had attacked police in protest against police handling of protests in 2019.

Chief Secretary John Lee -- Source: Hong Kong Government

In the hours and days that followed the attack, locals flocked to the site of the attack and laid flowers as an act of remberance. The student union was one of a few groups that publicly expressed sympathy for the attacker. In the student union case, student leaders of the organization had thanked the attacker for his "sacrifice." 

At the time, Hong Kong's former Secretary for Security John Lee voiced strong opposition to these acts of sympathy and likened it to supporting terrorism. Lee has since been promoted to the territory's number two role, Chief Secretary. Unlike his predecessor, the recently retired Matthew Cheung, Lee's focus will be almost entirely on the National Security Legislation passed in Hong Kong last year. 

The attack attracted criticism from the mainland and protests against local company VitaSoy after it was learned that the attacker, who later committed suicide, was an employee of the company. 

A human resources manager had circulated a memo at the time offering condolences for the deceased. That employee was fired. And VitaSoy publicly placed itself at a distance from that memo, stating that the memo was circulated without consent or review from management.