Hong Kong University Expels Student Who Called for Fire Accountability

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong university student who called for accountability over a deadly fire in the city said she was expelled from school for disciplinary offenses on Friday.

Politics student Miles Kwan was detained for two nights by the city’s national security police for “provocative intent” after distributing leaflets calling for an independent investigation into a fire that killed 168 people in November last year.

After he was released on bail, his school, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), conducted a disciplinary review and referred the case to a student disciplinary committee.

The committee decided on Thursday to remove him from training due to “multiple acts of misconduct”, according to a letter from the university obtained by AFP.

CUHK said in a statement on Friday that it would not comment on individual cases, adding that the education of a student who receives three punishments due to disciplinary measures may be terminated.

Kwan, 24, told AFP that the university did not penalize him for the November 2025 arrest.

According to Kwan, he was sentenced for calling the committee a “kangaroo panel” and a “disgrace” and was charged with “criminal damage” in 2023 after placing stickers on lampposts to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown in 2022.

Kwan said he has completed his education and will graduate in March.

“It is shameful that CUHK uses graduation certificates to oppress its former students,” he said in a statement. “You can take away your qualifications, but you can’t take away your dignity.”

He was among several people behind a petition published in the wake of the November fire at the Wang Fuk Court public housing high-rise towers, which became the world’s deadliest residential fire since 1980.

The petition called for holding government officials accountable, an independent investigation into possible corruption, proper relocation of residents and a review of construction oversight.

Authorities of the Chinese city set up an “independent committee” led by judges to investigate the deadly fire.