Liaison office 'sought meeting on national curriculum'

The co-founder of the alliance that successfully campaigned against the national education curriculum has claimed that a close ally of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying tried to set up a meeting between herself and officials from the central government's liaison office.

Eva Chan Sik-chee, of the Parents Concern Group, makes the claim in Mums and Dads Go To Battle, an account of the row that led to the curriculum's withdrawal. She says a former assistant of Leung, Scott Cheng Hei-huen, tried to set up the meeting.

Chan says Cheng called her in September after 120,000 protesters had gathered for days at the government headquarters in Admiralty to protest against the curriculum, which they said was an attempt at "brainwashing".

"He said he was Scott and was phoning me on behalf of the liaison office," Chan said at the book's launch on Sunday.

She said she was in a meeting with other members of the group when Cheng called. She alleged he told her that Leung was already "out of the equation" on the controversy, and that the liaison office would like to arrange a meeting with her alone to bring her "good news".

But Chan said she rejected the offer because she believed the liaison office should not intervene in Hong Kong affairs.