Hong Kong social scientist from pollster group Pori flees city, citing threats from 'powerful bodies', fear of 'moving red lines'

Outspoken Hong Kong social scientist Chung Kim-wah fled the city on Sunday night, citing threats from "powerful bodies" and the fear of crossing "moving red lines".

Chung, deputy executive director of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (Pori), announced his decision on Facebook, saying he was on his way to Britain and would "live abroad for a while".

"There is no room for sincere words in today's Hong Kong. It only allows lies. For those pedantic academics like me, Hong Kong is probably not a place where you can live normally without intimidation," he wrote in the post, which also included two pictures taken at the airport.

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"Having persisted in not being dominated by fear, living a normal life and doing what I have been doing for years, has caused endless nuisances and threats from powerful bodies," he claimed.

Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, the president of Pori, said his colleague would continue to serve as an honorary director at the institute upon leaving his current position at the end of April.

In January last year, Chung Kim-wah was taken in for questioning by police when the force raided the Pori office over its involvement with an unofficial primary held by the opposition camp.

Chung said on Facebook on Sunday that he had never previously thought of leaving his home city, and had dedicated himself to improving society.

"I only hope that I don't have to endure division and provocation from the government every day. I don't need to worry that these moving red lines might be crossed by me," he said.

The academic added he would continue to care about Hong Kong's social affairs and public policies. "I wish I can keep doing what I have been doing," he said.

Chung joined Pori after his retirement from Polytechnic University as an assistant professor at the department of applied social science in 2020. Last Friday he showed up at a Pori press conference, giving no hint of his departure.

He was among academics in Hong Kong who had continued to comment critically on social issues after the implementation of Beijing's national security law on the city two years ago.

In response to Chung's message, former city leader Leung Chun-ying said on Facebook that the pollster should hand over his Hong Kong passport and identity card since he had chosen to emigrate.

Leung has also publicly criticised others for emigrating from the city, such as former opposition legislator Nathan Law Kwun-chung last week, calling on such individuals to give up their local residency.

"'Live abroad for a while' is obviously emigration. Chung Kim-wah please hand over your passport and identity card," Leung said in his post.

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan also questioned Chung's move, calling him a deserter.

Asked whether Chung Kim-wah's departure would affect Pori's operations, Robert Chung said his colleague would continue to participate in the organisation's press conferences and help with a "social lives observation project" as an honorary director.

The institute's president added that Pori was in the process of conducting a regular half-year review of its development, which would be completed before the end of June.

Chung Kim-wah's departure also drew support from many online users, with messages flooding his Facebook post.

"Thank you for bringing unbiased and precise analysis to Hongkongers. I hope that you will continue this job overseas in the future, all the best," one person wrote.

Pori had designed the website and apps used for the opposition's primary in 2020. The polling group had been conducting research on various topics, including people's satisfaction with the government and freedom indicators in the city.

A day before Chung was brought in for police investigations last year, dozens of former opposition lawmakers and activists had been arrested on subversion charges related to the unofficial election, which was proposed to help select the camp's strongest candidates ahead of the Legislative Council race.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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