官員批語:“HK University: no doubt the creation of idealists, and a financial drain. But the ideal may still be worth pursuing, and to close down would be a bad ‘loss of face’. We have done what we could to support its claim and assistance from Boxer Indemnity funds but the matter is not in the hands of the C.O….There is no chance at all of any assistance from the Home Treasury beyond the nominal sum of £300 a year for scholarships (even that has been queried by the axe-wielders; but we have managed to hold on to it on the ground that the University serves an imperial purpose and that this payment does serve as a symbols of the support of Hong Kong).”, CO 129/511/14.
報告網羅不少古今書籍使用「光復」的例證,分兩部分,即三國到元朝和明朝迄今,不外想得出唯一結論:「光復」二字的意思,在中港台經千年未變,即:”a reinstatement of a perished state or a recovery of lost territory” (恢復落入敵人或異族領土)[2]。
HCCC280/2020 HKSAR v Tong. Expert Opinion of Prof Lau, AE305:Paras 45- 46: “…for about a thousand years in total. There was no obvious discrepancy in the application of the term “光復”….”“…its application in ancient China with meanings including the recovery of occupied homelands; restoration of perished countries or old systems, relics; (and) the restoration of original territory, regime, undertaking.”Para 56: “Consolidating the above words “光復 (restore/ recover/ revive/liberate)” have been used since the period of Three Kingdoms in China to modern times, and the meaning involved has not changed throughout a thousand years; whether in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong (the words) mean a reinstatement of a perished state or a recovery of lost territory.” 以上結論無疑是錯誤的。未看到漢語版,但隱約感覺律政司的翻譯有問題。
Karl Popper(卡爾·波普爾)是著名的哲學家,是科學方法的泰斗,提倡以「否證原則」(Principle of Falsification)驗證任何立論,因為羅列再多符合立論的證據,總不能窮舉,因而不能證明理論是對的;但一個例外即可將之推翻。這方法既方便打假,也能促進科學發展,因為能迫使立論者提出更精確的立論。科學家比較熟悉Popper;搞歷史、文字的,就看其視野。
在法庭已確認專家身份後,控方大狀依然在庭上追問辯方專家的學歷。法院曾裁定並多次認可以下結論:“Yet, the person’s expertise does not necessarily need to have been acquired in a formal manner. An ‘expert’ is a competent expert witness provided the court considers that he has the necessary expertise, however it was obtained. ‘Paper qualifications’ are not, therefore, essential.“ G Meggitt, “Expert Evidence: the New Rules” 2008,引用Barings plc (in liq) v Coopers and Lybrand (No. 2) 4 [2001] PNLR 22. 此風不可長,以免催生更多的尊貴的假學歷。