[1][2][3][4] The standoff, which has manifested in a series of protests and counterprotests on campuses, is reflective of the wider disconnect between mainlanders and Hongkongers, fanned by a host of reasons from politics and language barriers to state-fuelled propaganda and competition for scarce resources.
[12] As the posters were taken down, the CUHK student union condemned the act as "suppression of freedom of speech", however university argued that the banners were hung at several spots on campus without any prior permission, hence were removed.
[23][24] The mainland Chinese student captured on film on September 5 tearing down posters advocating Hong Kong independence has been called a hero by Communist Youth League.
[36][37] The Education University student union leader, Lala Lai Hiu-Ching said the poster was removed soon after as insults, personal attacks and libel are forbidden on the democracy wall.
An offensive poster mocking the death of mainland dissent, Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, and the detention of his wife appeared at the Education University of Hong Kong's Democracy wall.
[44] A joint statement issued by the student unions of 13 tertiary education institutions accused the government of “exerting pressure on university authorities to punish those whose speech may have intimidated the people in power.
[49] Tsoi Pui- keung, a pro-independence advocate and Hong Kong National Party supporter had admitted putting up a notice at City University mocking Undersecretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin after she lost her son and challenging the authorities to arrest him.
[50] All 39 pro-Beijing Legislative Council members have submitted a joint petition to Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, urging the government and university authorities to implement policies to prevent similar incidents from occurring and to issue a ban on material advocating independence.
[55] Student union vice-president of Lingnan university Issac Chan Tsun-hin said anonymous posters bearing the words “Hong Kong independence” appeared on the democracy wall last week but later mysteriously removed.
[58][59] Pro-Beijing legislator Junius Ho announced he will organize a rally at Admiralty on September 17, to protest against independence advocacy & Professor Benny Tai as well as "cold-blooded" messages mocking the suicide of the eldest son of cation Christine Choi Yuk-lin appearing in universities.
Sung is conducting self-censorship in the school, reducing himself to a political pawn.”[65] In a joint statement, the ten university heads in Hong Kong stated “We treasure freedom of expression, but we condemn its recent abuses.
About an hour later, around 10 middle aged to elderly members from pro-Beijing group Caring Hong Kong Power, led by Lee Ka-Ka, returned threatened to tear down independence-themed posters.
"[82] Both Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung and Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressed support for the anti-independence statement jointly issued by the heads of 10 universities on September 15.
[88] The Privacy Commissioner said that the Education University of Hong Kong had violated data protection principles by enabling the release of CCTV camera footage of two people suspected of putting up an offensive posters on September 10.
Prominent Pro-democracy figures Avery Ng, Tam Tak-chi, Claudia Mo, Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, Eddie Chu, Edward Yiu, Leung Kwok-hung, Tiff Yuen, Agnes Chow, and Derek Lam and protesters demanded Ho to publicly apologise and resign from his positions within the legislature, District Council and the governing board of Lingnan University.
the first part of the joint statement was directed at specific instances of “hate speech”, one of which referred to the death of the son of Undersecretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin, and another suggested the anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York should be celebrated.
Some of the other posters' content include: Mockery of Liu Xiaobo's death, independence for Hunan, Mao Zedong teachings on democracy and patriotism, Vladivostok reunification and celebrating the 9/11 attacks.
[112] The Hong Kong Social Workers General Union said that they would write to The Law Society of Singapore to protest about Ho's fraudulent behaviour and would consider a penalty for his misconduct.
[118][119] Pundits and commentators remarked that this one of Carrie Lam's first tests in dealing with a 'political affair', as she has to convince central leaders not to overreact to the independence banners, prevent large scale political stifle and assuring Hong Kong population that their freedom of speech is protected.
[120][121] SC Yeung writing for Eiinsight, remarks that Beijing loyalists appear to have an agenda against the pro-democracy camp and Independence advocates and are mobilizing their supporters to achieve their own political goals.
"[134] New Asia College's students' union responded by stating the issue was not whether calls for independence should be supported, but whether its discussion should be permitted on campus and that peaceful acts such as putting up banners and posters should be allowed.
[146] Executive Councillor Ronny Tong warned that students at the Chinese University could have broken the law by putting up banners and posters advocating Hong Kong independence, as it infringes upon on section 9 of the Crimes Ordinance that any publication is published with seditious intent then it may well be an offence.
However, it doesn't mean the law should have no control over the spreading of political beliefs which threaten national security.”[148] Executive Council convener Bernard Charnwut Chan said the government should not interfere too much in affairs on campus and these should be handled by the universities' management themselves.
[69] Tam Yiu-chung, DAB former chairman says the pro-independence banners that recently appeared on university campuses were the work of a small group of attention-seeking students, and that most people here don't support Hong Kong independence.
[155] Kevin Yam Kin-fung, founder of the Progressive Lawyers Group, argued no law was broken as the flyers and posters had merely discussed the issues and did not insinuate or encourage others to cause harm, and found it strange that CUHK is setting limits on free speech.
The Hong Kong government must shoulder its constitutional responsibility and prosecute those who flout the sedition clauses in the Crimes Ordinance, to create court precedents that would plug the loopholes in the city's national security law, before Article 23 legislation is enacted.
"[158] Lau Ming-wai, the head of the government's Youth Commission has accused the public and the media of overreacting to the recent unfurling of Hong Kong independence banners at local universities, while calling the action both immature and frivolous.
It is acceptable to discuss Hong Kong independence in an academic way, debating the pros and cons, but Pro-independence banners that appeared at various universities may have constituted seditious intent and might have violated the crimes ordinance.
[168][150] Dozens of Lingnan University students staged a protest on September 27, calling for Junius Ho be banned from entering the institution's campus, in order to ensure people's safety.
He received a removable demerit on his record and has to perform 40 hours of college service for using foul language (“Chee-na”) against others on campus during the September 7th standoff with Mainland students at CUHK's democracy wall.