National education climbdown wins no friends

A day before the Legislative Council election, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying made an awkward climbdown on national education. Surrounded for days by tens of thousands of demonstrators and several hunger strikers vowing to oppose the national education curriculum he inherited from his predecessor, naturally officials were worried that the situation might get out of hand. Panicked, this bunch of political rookies were inclined to advise their boss to make concessions.

Short of withdrawing the curriculum altogether, Leung announced there would be no deadline for its introduction, and individual schools are free to decide when to start and what to teach. To those who braved unspeakable pressure to come forward to show their support for national education, this amounts to an unprincipled sell-out, and came at a most inconvenient time, when morale was expected to be a factor in the election the next day.

In politics, timing is everything. If such an announcement had been made a week before, it might have won applause all around, but doing so at the last minute before a decisive electoral battle pleased no one.

Indeed, the election results in some areas ran contrary to expectations and opinion poll indications, and many would ascribe the unfavourable outcome to Leung's clumsy political move. The anti-national education demonstrators were not pleased either, and were the first to announce they were determined to push on until the curriculum is formally withdrawn.

The pro-establishment camp in the new legislature is suspicious of the government's real intention and political will, and so the Leung administration will have to live with weak and wavering support against a more belligerent and vocal minority.

Worse still, this sign of weakness will lead to further provocation. It seems that as long as you shout loud and long enough, the government will sooner or later succumb to your demands. Leung is courting trouble.