Demise of teachers' union frees young minds: China Daily editorial

After brainwashing thousands of young minds in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with pernicious political ideologies and ideas over the past decade, putting hundreds of young students on the path to disaster or ruin, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union announced its disbandment on Tuesday.

The PTU's decision to disband, which immediately followed clumsy attempts to whitewash its sins, is obviously not out of a desire to expiate those sins but rather an attempt to beat the rap amid reported investigations by the Hong Kong police of subversive organizations operating in the region.

Confrontational politics is commonplace around the world. What has made Hong Kong stand out in this aspect is the juvenile delinquency, which was a feature of the rioting, wanton street violence and vandalism during the so-called black revolution initiated by anti-government subversives in 2019.

Nearly 4,000 students have been arrested for breaking the law by participating in illegal assemblies, rioting or acts of vandalism, with approximately 2,000 of them under the age of 18, and some as young as 12.

Much of the blame for this juvenile delinquency can be laid at the door of the PTU. Over the years, through its vast network of teachers, the PTU has inculcated young minds with toxic ideas such as "breaking the law to achieve justice", radicalized them with anti-CPC metanarratives, and galvanized them with distorted notions of "democracy", "civil rights" and "freedom".

The PTU should be condemned not just for its confrontational politics but for its manipulation of thousands of credulous, young students as pawns with which to execute its own political agenda.

What attests to the moral corruption of the group is the fact that none of the siblings, children or grandchildren of its leading members has been arrested for participating in these illegal activities.

The PTU's demise will be music to the ears of people who genuinely care for the future of Hong Kong. But it will take tremendous efforts, especially on the part of the education authority and upright education professionals, as well as parents, to detoxify young minds that have been polluted by the PTU.

Meanwhile, it is not just the PTU that has no future in the SAR. Now that the National Security Law has kicked in, other subversive groups will also find there is no place for them in the city. The PTU's disbandment has sounded the death knell for all subversive groups in the SAR.