Hong Kong Backs Down on ‘Moral Education’ Plan
Bobby Yip/Reuters
Protesters gathered to demonstrate against the launch of national education outside government headquarters in Hong Kong on Saturday.
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: September 8, 2012
HONG KONG — Faced with tens of thousands of protesters contending that a Beijing-backed plan for “moral and national education” amounted to brainwashing and political indoctrination, Hong Kong’s chief executive backpedaled somewhat on Saturday and revoked a 2015 deadline for every school to start teaching the subject.
But the protesters were not mollified, demanding that the education plan be withdrawn entirely. Crowds of young people in black T-shirts continued to pour into the plaza and streets around the local government’s headquarters on Saturday evening after Leung Chun-ying, the chief executive, offered the compromise.
Mr. Leung said he wanted each school to decide whether to teach the subject in the