Hong Kong’s new textbooks will teach students that the city was never a British colony, following a review of a subject that authorities have accused of pushing for pro-democracy protests.
According to local reports, the new texts will teach students that the Chinese government did not recognize the treaties that ceded the city to Britain after the opium wars. They ended in 1997 when Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese control, and the texts therefore state that Hong Kong was never a British colony.
The new books also adopt Beijing’s narrative that the 2019 protest movement was driven by “external forces,” the South China Morning Post reported.
The four sets of textbooks for the Hong Kong Liberal Studies subject were published online last week for schools to choose the materials for the new academic year in September. Fourth-graders use them in “citizenship and social development” classes, which replaced the liberal arts course designed in 2009 to teach students critical thinking. In 2020, the liberal arts course was attacked by pro-Beijing authorities who accused it of pushing young people towards protests and pledged to rectify.
Then-Executive Director Carrie Lam said students needed protection from being “poisoned” and fed “false, biased information.”
A subsequent review of the education system included a greater focus on national security and patriotism, and teachers were encouraged to denounce students who violate national security law.
“Schools need to teach students to think positively and to love their nation,” the head of Hong Kong’s education department said on Monday.
Several of the textbooks talk about the National Security Act of 2020, which has been widely criticized for violating basic freedoms by banning acts of dissent such as terrorism, secessionism, foreign collusion, or sedition. One says the law was introduced in response to “violent terrorist activities” and illegal acts in 2019 that endangered national sovereignty and security.
Another mentioned “national security” 400 times in 121 pages, according to the report.
The state-backed Chinese tabloid, the Global Times, said the changes would ensure that “some teachers will no longer be able to convey their erroneous and poisonous political views to students when they teach this course.”
Tang Fei, editor and reviewer of two of the textbooks, and also a Hong Kong lawmaker, told the media that the texts had passed the internal review and were now awaiting final approval. With the new texts, “school teachers will not have to contribute too much other content,” Tang said.
The proposed new textbooks arrive just weeks before Hong Kong marks 25 years since the British delivery. 50 years of semi-autonomy were promised in the territory, but activists argue that post-2019 crackdown, national security law, electoral changes and growing central government interventions in civil society and the media have already ended. to this autonomy.
This year’s anniversary, July 1, will also mark the first day of the new leader of the city, anointed by Beijing, John Lee. Lee, the former head of security, will take over from Lam.
China’s top leaders have traditionally attended the swearing-in ceremony. Xi Jinping’s attendance has not been confirmed, but speculation has risen after at least one Hong Kong primary school announced that it was looking for students to spend a week in a hotel quarantine, suggesting that preparations for a strict system of “closed loop” will allow Xi to visit.
Additional report by Chi Hui Lin and Xiaoqian Zhu