Following on from numerous mass protests opposing the amendment of the controversial Hong Kong Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which has been , some teachers and principals fear that they may be targeted for supporting the demonstrations.
The Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (PTU) organised a strike for teachers and students on June 12 to support the mass protests which had occupied the city's central regions, against the bill which would allow extraditions to China.
The following day, the Secretary for Education, Kevin Yun-hung Yeung, responded by writing a letter to the principals and supervisors who organised the strike, indicating that the Education Bureau firmly opposed the strike. The letter also indicated that if teachers were absent without approval, the schools should act according to relevant funding regulations.
The PTU subsequently sent its own letter to the Education Bureau requesting that Mr Yeung withdraw his letter, and stated that the Bureau had abused administrative means and "oppressed" the frontline teachers.
The PTU also claimed that the Regional Education Offices checked with schools for names of teachers and students who had participated in the strike. At the same time, some teachers claimed that schools had been asked to submit a list of names of participants of the strikes.
Chris Yeung, the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Chief Editor of Hong Kong Citizen News, told SBS Cantonese that since the Occupy Central movement broke out in 2014, the government believed that the youth population had become "radical" and had taken part in anti-government behaviours.
The PTU's letter to the Education Bureau requesting Mr Yeung to withdraw his letter. Source: Amanda Pak
He said the government even considered teachers as the influencers instilling an anti-government mindset and also organised the students to "occupy central" for a second time.
He said in the past, the Education Bureau had retaliated against teachers for their "excessive political actions", in particular, teachers who were employed on a contractual basis.
Mr Yeung said that although the government promised a "major reconciliation" within the city after the Occupy Central movement in 2014, its actions were contrary to that goal, especially in the promotion of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance.
Chris Yeung said the youth population had become "radical" since the Occupy Central movement in 2014. Source: YouTube
"In the past few years, retaliations were becoming more frequent. Occupy Central participants were sentenced heavily, some citizens were barred from getting involved in elections, these all break the already torn society further apart," he said.
According to Hong Kong local media, after the violent protests on June 12 at the Central Government Complex, 11 individuals were arrested for public nuisance, illegal assembly, assault and riot-related crimes.
The Hong Kong University Students' Union later confirmed that six university students were arrested, four from the University of Hong Kong, two of whom were suspected of loitering. The remaining two were students of the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist University respectively.
Dr Bin Lin, a Sydney-based academic in politics, described the police action against protesters as "white terror".
Dr Bin Lin (left) and school Principal Tak Ching Tai (right). Source: SBS
He alleged that the police were arresting injured protesters in hospitals.
"Compared to the Occupy Central movement a few years ago, Hong Kong people [in the latest series of protests] were more peaceful and rational. Two million people took to the streets and there were only a few violent scenes - accounting only a small percentage. The public has made rapid progress. But on the contrary, the white terror behind the government is absolutely appalling," Dr Lin said.
The Education Bureau responded to the claim, saying it had not collected personal data as a form of retaliation against educators, and rejected any accusations of a "white terror". It criticised individual groups for distorting the facts.
However, Tak Ching Tai, a school Principal at the Sheng Kung Hui Tang Shiu Kin Secondary School, said the stance of the Education Bureau was very clear - "they do not support the school strikes".
Consequently, after the June 9 and June 12 protests, especially when the strikes were announced, the Bureau called each school, asking how many students and teachers were participating in the strikes.
Mr Tai said his school only provided the number of participating teachers and students, but not their names.
Amanda Pak, a Hongkonger told SBS Cantonese, her daughter, who is a school teacher, applied for absence from work to participate in the protests on the day.
But she said her former colleagues in other schools were asked by the government to provide the exact names of teachers absent on June 12.
On Thursday, June 20, Hong Kong media reported that a Hong Kong international student who had participated in the anti-amendment protest in Melbourne was intercepted by plainclothed police officers at Hong Kong Airport upon his return.
He said he was asked for a reason for his return to Hong Kong and was asked to produce his passport, Hong Kong identity card and student identity card.
The man, who requested not to be identified, said he often shared information about the law amendment on the Chinese social media platform WeChat. He claimed that a few other Hong Kong students on the same flight were also questioned, but other family travellers and foreign passengers were not intercepted.
Responding to the Stand News' inquiry, the Hong Kong Police Force said that no such incident was recorded, emphasising that "the police did not intercept any passengers on that flight".
