Former HKUST Professor Accused of Bribery for Allegedly Taking HK$40,000 to "Guarantee Admission" Facing ICAC Prosecution

WealthCoffee · 2026-03-17T14:03:10+00:00

Hong Kong Universities Face Academic Integrity Crisis: Former HKUST Professor Lau Hong-pan Prosecuted for Allegedly Accepting HK$40,000 Bribe to Help Unqualified Students Obtain Master's Admission Spots. This incident exposes challenges in Hong Kong's academic integrity culture.

WealthCoffee

2026-03-17 14:03:10

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[Caixin] From students applying to Hong Kong universities with “fake degrees” to university professors being bribed to help others secure admission spots, Hong Kong’s academic integrity culture faces challenges. On March 16, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) officially charged a former associate professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, accusing him of accepting a HKD 40,000 bribe to help a student who did not meet the admission requirements secure a place in the master’s program.

According to the ICAC’s charges, the 63-year-old former associate professor Liu Hongbin was a lecturer in the Department of Marine Science at HKUST. At the time of the incident, he was the course supervisor for the Master of Science (Environmental Health and Safety) program, responsible for reviewing admissions applications and conducting interviews. Between March and May 2025, Liu Hongbin allegedly accepted a HKD 40,000 bribe from his 60-year-old friend Lin Peiling to assist a student in gaining admission to the master’s program for the 2025/26 academic year.

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