Largest Hong Kong teachers' union disbands amid crackdown

HONG KONG – Hong Kong's largest teachers' national said it disbanded Tuesday owed to the changing governmental climate, arsenic the authorities continues its crackdown connected dissent successful the city.

The Hong Kong authorities chopped ties with the pro-democracy national past week and accused it of spreading anti-Beijing and anti-government sentiment. The divided came hours aft Chinese authorities media called the national a “malignant tumor” that should beryllium eradicated.

The Professional Teachers’ Union is the city’s largest single-industry commercialized union, with 95,000 members.

“Regrettably, the changes successful the societal and governmental situation successful caller years person forced america to deliberation astir the mode forward, and immoderate caller accelerated developments person besides enactment america nether tremendous pressure,” the national said successful a connection Tuesday.

It said it would halt accepting caller members and refund renewals submitted by existent members. It volition besides laic disconnected 200 unit members and dispose of its assets, and volition soon halt its aesculapian halfway services and payment centers that sold discounted goods to members.

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The closure of the teachers' national is the latest fallout from efforts by Hong Kong authorities to stamp retired dissent successful the city. Over the past 2 years, galore governmental groups and the pro-democracy paper Apple Daily person ceased operations implicit concerns that they would beryllium targeted nether a sweeping nationalist information instrumentality imposed by Beijing past twelvemonth pursuing months of anti-government protests that astatine times descended into violence. Over 100 pro-democracy figures person been arrested nether the law.

Critics person slammed the crackdown connected dissent, saying the erstwhile British colony is losing the freedoms it was promised erstwhile it was handed implicit to Chinese power successful 1997.

This year, Hong Kong changed its predetermination laws to trim the fig of straight elected lawmakers and springiness a mostly pro-Beijing committee the leeway to nominate lawmakers aligned with Beijing.

Separately, Hong Kong person Carrie Lam expressed enactment Tuesday for authorities allowing retaliatory sanctions aft the U.S. and different Western governments punished metropolis officials implicit the crackdown connected ideology activists.

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Lam said the anti-foreign sanctions instrumentality should beryllium adopted successful Hong Kong via section legislation, alternatively than imposed by Beijing, and that she has told the Chinese authorities astir her views.

Lam's enactment for the adoption of the anti-sanctions instrumentality successful Hong Kong came aft China implemented a wide anti-sanctions instrumentality successful June. Anyone deed with retaliatory sanctions could beryllium taxable to visa restrictions, person their assets seized oregon frozen and beryllium banned from doing concern with immoderate Chinese institution oregon idiosyncratic successful China.

The instrumentality comes aft the U.S. slapped sanctions connected dozens of Chinese and Hong Kong officials — including Lam — implicit their relation successful suppressing Hong Kong’s autonomy.

“There are outer forces, oregon overseas governments oregon Western media, which would marque usage of the accidental to weaken our planetary fiscal halfway presumption arsenic good arsenic a weakening assurance successful Hong Kong,” Lam said.

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