 Concerns raised by staff specifically include "Lu's language which suggests staff are a cost rather than an asset", according to the University and College Union, while the Students' Union was specifically concerned about the closure of many arts courses at the university despite a "healthy" number of applications for them.Students who wanted a "no" vote hoped this result would make the university management "engage with staff and students and discuss changes"; only one student ran the campaign supporting the management, though the debate between union students was said to hold "twinges of sympathy for Max Lu".In May 2019, after some controversy regarding Chinese technology firm Huawei, accused of spying for the Chinese government, continuing to work on the development of 5G communications (a project housed at the University of Surrey, among others), Lu spoke in support of the company and told reporters that universities should ignore geopolitics and not take any rash action without "a large body" of proof of Huawei's espionage.