University expels student who called for accountability over Hong Kong fire

A Hong Kong university student who had called for accountability over a deadly fire at an apartment complex in the city has been expelled by the school for disciplinary offences.

Miles Kwan, a politics student, was detained for two nights by the city’s national security police last year for “seditious intent” after handing out flyers calling for an independent investigation into a fire that killed 168 people in November.

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 discipline committee.

The committee decided to terminate him from studies on Thursday due to “multiple acts of misconduct”, according to a letter from the university.

CUHK said in a statement on Friday that it would not comment on individual cases, adding that a student who is given three demerits due to disciplinary actions may be terminated from studies.

People line up to offer flowers outside Wang Fuk Court in the aftermath of the deadly fire in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on 29 November. Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Kwan, 24, said the university did not penalise him for the arrest in November 2025.

According to Kwan, he received demerits for calling the committee a “kangaroo panel” and a “disgrace”, and for being charged for “criminal damage” in 2023 after he placed stickers on lamp-posts in 2022 to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Kwan said he had completed his studies and was to graduate in March.

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

He was among several people behind a petition issued after the fire that broke out in high-rise towers of Wang Fuk Court housing estate in November, the world’s deadliest residential building fire since 1980.

The petition called for government officials to be held accountable, an independent investigation into possible corruption, proper resettlement for residents, and a review of construction oversight.

The Chinese city’s authorities have formed a judge-led “independent committee” to investigate the fatal blaze.