Aerial photo taken on March 6, 2021 shows citizens displaying China's national flag and the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in support of implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" at Tamar Park in Hong Kong, south China.Photo:Xinhua

The Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (PTU) amended its regulation so fewer members' agreement would suffice to initiate the dissolution process. This move reflects the PTU's eagerness to speed up the process to evade legal punishment though it is an illusion, observers said on Sunday. 

According to the resolution passed during a special meeting attended by more than 100 PTU members on Saturday, instead of a full-member vote of 95,000, a two-thirds majority of attendees at a special meeting will suffice to put the de facto political organization to an end, PTU president Fung Wai-wah said on Saturday. 

The PTU announced its decision to disband on August 10, but regulations require a full-member vote to proceed the agenda. Fung said that the original threshold is too hard to reach, and a majority of the attendees supported the amendment. 

The union will fix a date when the government has approved its amendments to the regulation. "We hope to hold an extraordinary general meeting sometime in September to ensure the breakup happen as quickly as possible," Fung said. 

The PTU is in fact hoping to complete the dissolution process as soon as possible after lowering the threshold and to sell assets as soon as possible in order to prevent law enforcement agencies from taking action against it, Lawrence Tang Fei, principal of the Heung To Secondary School (Tseung Kwan O) in Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Sunday, noting that the PTU's announcing dissolution without going through a formal process may have been out of similar intention.

Experts noted that the PTU could be held accountable legally even after its disbandment, as it was deeply involved in the Hong Kong turmoil in 2019 and the "Occupy Central" anti-government movement in 2014. 

A Hong Kong teacher and former member of the PTU surnamed Chen told the Global Times that although the union has more than 90,000 members, few actually participate in its activities. 

"Most members join because of the daily services provided by the union, which lacks binding power to members. Speeding up the dissolution process by amending regulations is inevitable," Chen noted. 

The PTU is one of Hong Kong's recent downfallen pro-opposition organizations. The Xinhua News Agency had reported that the PTU has housed secessionism, incited violence and disrupted Hong Kong under the guise of an educational organization. Its dissolution has provided Hong Kong education with a historic opportunity to get back on track.

Some of the PTU's businesses have already ceased operation, including the two large supermarkets it has been operating for a long time. 

As of the end of 2020, the group had cash and deposits amounting to HK$125 million ($16 million) and HK$58 million in liabilities, Hong Kong media outlet hk01.com reported. PTU is reportedly the biggest financer behind a number of Hong Kong's extremist opposition groups.