Hong Kong's education system was described by the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper as a "disease" that must be treated, in an editorial that blamed schools for inculcating students with values that led to illegal behaviour. Published late on Sunday night as the former
British colony suffered the latest protest in five months of political unrest, the newspaper returned to a well worn theme. State media has repeatedly blamed textbooks in "liberal studies", a mandatory high school subject in Hong Kong, for influencing students, who have been at the forefront of protests.