A journalism academic who attended closed-door meetings at the University of Hong Kong to discuss the city’s national security law said on Wednesday that his colleagues expressed worries about the legislation, although they were not yet in a state of despair.

Attendees of the meetings highlighted to university management the lack of clarity in the legislation, Kevin Fu, associate professor of the Journalism and Media Studies Center, said during a morning program on Commercial Radio.

Fu was referring to two town halls, one held behind closed doors after Beijing passed the national security law for Hong Kong in June last year, and the other last month. Both were organized by the university’s Faculty of Social Sciences.

In the first session, many scholars voiced worries about whether the topics they taught would violate the law, or if studies about China issues would cross the red line of the government.

University management did not provide clear answers, only giving background information to the national security law.

Academic staffers again raised concerns over uncertainties and ambiguities contained in the law, at the second session held in May.

Fu emphasized most of the teaching staff were not emotional and did not break down during the meetings, adding that the views they presented were normal.

The associate professor went on radio to speak up after the American magazine, the Atlantic, published a report on Monday about the university’s closed-door town halls.

The article featured interviews with a number of unnamed scholars who had joined the meetings and described it as being filled with fear and despair. Some faculty members became emotional and said they felt abandoned as “help is not on the way,” it said.

The Atlantic further said that two members of the university’s teaching staff had been reported to the government’s national security hotline, which was set up to receive tip-offs from the public about possible breaches.

Fu himself had carried out research studies about China’s social media development and the anti-extradition bill protests of Hong Kong in 2019.

He acknowledged on radio that he was also concerned about whether his work would break subversion offenses under the law. He said that research done in collaboration with overseas scholars could be misinterpreted as involving collusion with foreign forces, which was another category of national security offenses.

During the meetings, Fu asked if the university would provide any help and support if staffers were arrested over their teaching duties, but no clear response was received.

Under such a working environment, Fu said, it would not be a surprise to see academics leaving the university as they would be unable to teach the students and conduct research studies as they wished.

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