HONG KONG • The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) yesterday said it would disband, the latest of several civil society groups that have ceased operating in the city this year.

The organisation passed a motion last week to disband, HKCTU co-president Joe Wong told a news conference. "We want to apologise to the people of Hong Kong that we cannot continue," Mr Wong said tearfully, adding that some members had received messages threatening their safety.

Concerns have deepened over a crackdown on Hong Kong opposition groups since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the financial hub last year, stoking fears about the shrinking space for dissent.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has denied that the government is carrying out a crackdown on civil society, and the authorities say all law enforcement actions have been based on evidence and have nothing to do with the political beliefs of those arrested.

The HKCTU says it represents more than 93 affiliated organisations and that its duties include organising independent trade unions, resolving labour disputes and providing vocational training.

During Hong Kong's anti-government protests in 2019, it ran crash courses on establishing unions for many groups created at that time, partly in an effort to protect workers from being punished by employers for expressing their views.

HKCTU co-founder Lee Cheuk-yan is in jail over his role in the protests, while its chief executive Mung Siu Tat has left Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's largest teachers' union, also an HKCTU affiliate, last month said it would disband after the Education Bureau accused it of helping to infiltrate schools with politics.

REUTERS