National security law: Beijing’s offices in Hong Kong take aim at organisers of class boycotts

Joshua Wong and others accused of exploiting pupils in attempt to derail legislation

Liaison office supports education chief who urged schools to discipline participants, while government warns civil servants about neutrality

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Organisers of an unofficial referendum with secondary school pupils as the electorate have been accused of ‘using’ young people in their political campaign. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 4:12pm, 12 Jun 2020Updated: 3:30pm, 13 Jun 2020

Beijing’s two offices overseeing Hong Kong affairs joined the local government on Friday to ramp up pressure on activists planning an unofficial referendum to build support for general strikes and class boycotts against the national security law being tailor-made for the city.

The State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) accused youth activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and others of exploiting secondary school pupils in a campaign to derail the legislation, which aims to prevent, stop and punish secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and foreign interference in the city.

The central government’s liaison office applauded the city’s education minister for urging schools to take a hardline approach in disciplining those who boycott class, as Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s government condemned one of the unions involved in the June 20 vote for tarnishing the civil service’s reputation.

“For civil servants who blatantly violate the civil service code, we will follow up seriously,” a spokesman warned, referring to the protocol requiring government workers to uphold political neutrality.

The Union for New Civil Servants, which emerged from last year’s anti-government protest movement, rejected the criticism, saying it deeply regretted the government’s disregard for its efforts to gauge colleagues’ views on Beijing’s imminent legislation for Hong Kong.

The plebiscite at the centre of the controversy, originally planned for Sunday but postponed until June 20 because of the prospect of bad weather, is being co-organised by the Hong Kong Secondary School Students Action Platform and is backed by Wong’s political party Demosisto and more than 20 trade unions linked with the anti-government movement.

They are seeking the endorsement of pupils and workers for a class boycott and general strike before the start of the school summer holidays.

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