Standing outside Hong Kong’s government headquarters on a May morning, social work veteran Eddie Tse cut a lonely figure. Joined by just one other supporter, a retired social worker who declined to give his full name, Tse was there to protest government plans to overhaul the body responsible for registering social workers. He called the move “political interference,” warning it would undermine the sector’s autonomy. The authorities had proposed giving government-appointed members a majority on the Social Workers Registration Board and barring those convicted of offences endangering national se…
