上周六，在距香港居民投票选出新一届立法会还有一天的时候，香港特区行政长官在当地学校推广国民教育课程这一极具争议的问题上屈从于政治压力和绝食抗议者，放弃此前要求强推此类课程的计划。

Kin Cheung/Associated Press 上周六，在香港政府大楼外示威的抗议者。梁振英在晚上召开的新闻发布会上宣布，特区政府将允许学校自行决定是否开设所谓“德育及国民教育”课程。特区政府此前曾要求香港学校到2015年前开设此类课程。梁振英说，我们将决定权交给学校。

反对国民教育计划的大规模抗议活动已经撼动香港长达数月时间。部分香港民众认为这一计划无异于“洗脑”。上周五晚上多达12万人在特区政府办公楼外抗议示威。十几名绝食抗议者和大量青少年已经在特区政府外露营超过一周。

梁振英在上周六晚上的讲话中称，推行国民教育课程不是我们的决策。他强调说所谓“德育及国民教育”计划是前任特首曾荫权留下的遗产。曾荫权在2010年发起这一倡议。梁振英说，特区政府以及我们一旦意识到市民对此存在反对及不同看法，我本人以及我的团队即迅速处理这一问题。

上周五的抗议活动有数万名身着黑衣的抗议者参加。类似这样的抗议活动将特区政府置于一个尴尬的处境，并在上周导致梁振英取消上任以来首次正式海外出访，以便处理“内务”。学生们在政府办公楼外至少搭了50顶帐篷，支持者每天给他们提供零食、水果和饮用水。据香港警方介绍，虽然梁振英做出不再强推国民教育课程的声明，但截至周六晚上9点30分，仍有2.75万名抗议者聚集在政府办公大楼外。

虽然特区政府一直坚持学校可以自由设计国民教育课程，但香港市民担心该课程可能向香港学童灌输热爱中国共产党的思想。今年7月有人发现特区政府资助出版的一本名为《中国模式》的教育小册子对中国一党制政体充满了赞誉，这无疑加大了香港市民的担心。

梁振英在讲话中呼吁绝食抗议者恢复正常生活。部分绝食抗议者上周禁食累计达到120个小时。截至上周六晚11时，组织者说仍有约15名绝食者拒绝进食，不过抗议者也在讨论是否结束抗议活动。

香港中学生民主运动组织学民思潮(Scholarism)参与领导了此次反对国民教育课程的抗议活动。该组织18岁的成员Marc Cheung说，梁振英上周六讲话的力度还不够。他说我对梁振英的讲话不是很满意。他认为政府在讨论学校应该怎样教授中国历史时应容许各种不同声音参与其中。他在谈到国民教育计划时说，我仍认为应该完全取消这个计划。

香港选民周日将选出新一届立法会。分析人士说，香港民众对国民教育课程的怒火预计将带动更多市民前去投票。

One day before Hong Kong residents vote to elect a new legislature, the Chinese territory's leader backed down on a contested plan to promote patriotism in local schools, bowing to political pressure and hunger strikers.

At an evening news conference, Leung Chun-ying announced that the administration would allow schools to decide for themselves whether to implement so-called 'moral and national' education classes. Previously, the government had said that it would require schools to begin such curriculum by 2015. 'We're giving the authority to the schools,' Mr. Leung said.

Large-scale protests have rocked Hong Kong for months over the plan, which some locals say amounts to 'brainwashing.' On Friday night, up to 120,000 demonstrated outside government offices, where about a dozen hunger strikers and scores of teenagers have been camped for over a week.

Calling the plan 'not something of our making,' on Saturday night, Mr. Leung stressed that he had inherited plans for so-called 'moral and national' education from Donald Tsang, his predecessor, who introduced the initiative in 2010. 'As soon as the government and as soon as we realized that there are opposing and different views in the community, I myself and my team have very, very quickly dealt with the issue,' Mr. Leung said.

Protests such as Friday's, which saw tens of thousands of black-clad protesters participate, have placed the government in an awkward position and this week prompted Mr. Leung to cancel his first official overseas trip since his inauguration to attend to 'domestic issues.' Students have pitched at least 50 tents outside government offices, while their many supporters have been bringing them daily offerings of snacks, fruit and water. Despite Mr. Leung's announcement, as of 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, there were still 27,500 protesters assembled outside government offices, according to police.

While the government had long maintained that schools would be free to design their own curriculum, local residents feared the plan would try to inculcate love of China's Communist Party among Hong Kong's schoolchildren. The fact that the government was found in July to have subsidized the publication of an educational pamphlet that offered fulsome praise of China's one-party state, titled 'The China Model,' helped fan such fears.

In his remarks, Mr. Leung appealed to hunger strikers─some who have fasted for up to 120 hours this week─to give up their campaign. As of 11 p.m. on Saturday night, organizers said there were about 15 hunger strikers still refusing food, though discussions were under way over whether to give up their campaign.

Marc Cheung, an 18-year-old member of Scholarism, the student activist group that helped lead the campaign against national education, said that Mr. Leung's announcement on Saturday didn't go far enough. 'I don't feel really happy with what he said,' said Mr. Cheung, adding that the government should do more to incorporate diverse voices into a discussion about how schools should teach China's history. 'I still think we should withdraw it altogether,' he said of the plan.

Voters in Hong Kong on Sunday will elect a new legislative council, and analysts say that anger over the national education issue is expected to drive higher numbers of residents to go to the polls.