Hong Kong Teacher Fired for Anti-China Views

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam defended disciplining teachers for promoting anti-China views, after the Asian financial center for the first time revoked an educator’s registration over the content of their lessons.

Lam told reporters Tuesday she was obliged to protect students from being drawn into the political disputes that have fueled a historic wave of unrest in the former British colony. She was responding to questions about the Education Bureau’s decision to deregister a teacher accused of giving his class of 10- and 11-year-olds a lesson about independence and freedom of speech.

“If there is a very tiny fraction of teachers who are using their teaching responsibilities to convey wrong messages to promote misunderstanding about the nation, to smear the country and the HKSAR government without basis, then that becomes a very serious matter,” Lam said, referring to Hong Kong’s status as a special administrative region of China.

The Professional Teachers’ Union said in a statement posted on its Facebook page late Monday that it would help the teacher appeal the decision. The bureau’s allegations were “totally not in line with the facts,” the union said.

The move is latest in a series of disputes over Hong Kong’s education system, as the Beijing-backed government attempts to gain greater control over what it views as a hotbed of dissent. Students have long made up a large share of protesters on the city’s streets, and people under 18 years of age represented almost one-fifth of the roughly 9,000 arrests as of May.

Chinese authorities in Hong Kong have urged officials to “cut off” the “black hands” influencing the local education system. The nation’s top legislative body in June imposed a security law on Hong Kong requiring the local government to promote national security in schools and universities, which have maintained a reputation for academic freedom, which is ensured under the city’s Basic Law.

The deregistered teacher asked primary school students to answer questions about freedom of speech after giving a lecture on independence activist Andy Chan’s banned National Party, Deputy Secretary for Education Chan Siu Suk Fan told a briefing later Tuesday. The incident occurred earlier in 2019, but a complaint wasn’t filed until September of that year.

“The removal of his teaching registration for ‘spreading pro-independence messages’ illustrates how freedom of expression is increasingly being eroded in Hong Kong,” said Joshua Rosenzweig, China head for Amnesty International. “The Hong Kong authorities must not use national security as a pretext to unnecessarily censor educational activities, and they should not reprimand teachers for encouraging students to think about legitimate questions related to Hong Kong affairs.”

While education officials argued the punishment was “proportionate,” Lam highlighted its unprecedented severity, saying it was the first time a teacher had been stripped of the essential credential without allegations of sexual improprieties or other crimes. Five other staff members, including the headmaster and other colleagues who used the same materials, were issued warnings.

The Education Bureau said the teacher’s materials were “not in line with the constitutional and legal status of Hong Kong,” calling the move a “planned act” that caused harm to students. “The department will make deregistration decisions after investigations into misconduct to take out bad apples and to safeguard the teaching profession and students’ interests,” the bureau said.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL:

Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake

Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake

Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake

Subscribe to our newsletter

Email us at quicktakenews@gmail.com

QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.