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CY Leung denies ‘paving the way’ for son’s place at top Swedish medical university
Chief executive lists son Chuen-yan’s academic credentials, saying he could do little to help
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 24 February, 2015, 3:08pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 24 February, 2015, 5:56pm
Lai Ying-kit [email protected]
Leung Chun-ying was accused of fostering accused fostering cooperation between a Hong Kong property tycoon and KI. Photos: Edward Wong, YouTube
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying today denied “paving the way” for his son’s entry to one of the world’s top medical universities, saying he was admitted on his own merits and did not require his help.
Leung was responding to a report by Next Magazine last week, which said he had fostered a HK$50 million donation made by property tycoon Lau Ming-wai to Sweden’s Karolinska Institute (KI).
The donation, made earlier this month, was for KI to set up in Hong Kong its first overseas research base.
The report accused Leung of having a conflict of interest, after his eldest son Chuen-yan applied to be a postdoctoral fellow in 2013 and officially joined the school this year.
Before today’s Executive Council meeting, Leung first gave a flat denial when asked if his son’s admission to the renowned institute was related to the donation.
“It has nothing to do with that whatsoever,” he said.
Leung noted that the magazine used the words “paves the way for his son” to depict his work in the donation. He said there was no need to do so because his son had his own merits.
Leung smiled as he listed some of Chuen-yan’s academic achievements.
“Chuen-yan completed his PhD studies at Britain’s Cambridge University at the age of 25. He then obtained a research fellowship from Hong Kong’s Croucher Foundation, and was then admitted by the Swedish medical research institution which is one of the world’s best,” he said.
“He has all along done quite well in his studies and research. Essentially he does not need me to ‘pave the way’ for him.
“Throughout the course of his studies and research, there has been little I could do to help.”
