Peking University asks to be respectful of Hong Kong

Authorities at China's prestigious Peking University have asked all teachers and students to refrain from making uncivilized remarks about Hong Kong after a professor made controversial remarks about the special administrative region. During a recent school meeting, teachers and students were told to support Hong Kong's development by taking the overall situation of the nation's development into account, according to a press release posted Wednesday on the university's official website. Everyone should take a "rational, peaceful and civilized" approach when handling cultural differences between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, it said. "Everyone should refrain from making comments or doing things that are not conducive to maintaining cooperation, harmony and friendship between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland." "Everyone should consciously safeguard the sentiments between the people on the Chinese mainland and their compatriots in Hong Kong, and make joint endeavors to realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," it said. The press release said Peking University has engaged in frequent exchanges with Hong Kong's academic circle and the university's development has won great support from Hong Kong. "People of all circles in Hong Kong are welcome to visit Peking University," it said. "Peking University will make unremitting efforts to promote exchanges and cooperation between people on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong," it said. The school meeting, attended by the university's Communist Party of China (CPC) chief Zhu Shanlu and President Zhou Qifeng, is believed to be connected to recent remarks about Hong Kong made by the university's Professor Kong Qingdong. Professor Kong referred to Hong Kong residents as "bastards" and "dogs" in response to a video he saw of Hong Kongers scolding a mainland woman for violating rules against eating on Hong Kong's subway trains. The video sparked an outcry in Hong Kong, with Professor Kong claiming a few days after the incident that the media deliberately took his words out of context.