According to local reports, the new texts will teach students that the Chinese government did not recognize the conditions granted to the city in Britain after the opium wars. They ended in 1997 when Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese control, and therefore the texts claim that Hong Kong was never a British colony. The new books also adopt Beijing’s narrative that the 2019 protest movement was led by “outside forces,” the South China Morning Post reported. The four sets of Hong Kong Liberal Studies textbooks went online last week for schools to select material for the new academic year in September. They are intended to be used by fourth-graders in “citizenship and social development” courses, which replaced the liberal studies course designed in 2009 to teach students critical thinking. In 2020, the Liberal Studies course was attacked by pro-Beijing authorities who accused it of leading young people to demonstrations and promised to rectify it. The then-principal, Carrie Lam, said the students needed protection from being “poisoned” and fed “false and discriminatory information”. A subsequent review of the education system included an increased focus on national security and patriotism, with teachers being encouraged to report students violating national security legislation. “Schools need to teach students to think positively and love their nation,” the head of Hong Kong’s education department said on Monday. Several of the textbooks discuss the 2020 National Security Act – widely criticized as a violation of fundamental freedoms by banning acts of dissent such as terrorism, secession, foreign collusion or insurgency. One reportedly said the law was introduced in response to “violent terrorist activities” and illegal acts in 2019 that endangered national sovereignty and security. Another cited “national security” 400 times in 121 pages, the report said. China’s state tabloid, the Global Times, said the changes would ensure that “some teachers will no longer be able to convey their wrong and poisonous political views to students when they teach this subject”. Tang Fei, author and reviewer of two of the textbooks, and also a Hong Kong lawmaker, told the newspaper that the texts had undergone an internal review and were now awaiting final approval. With the new texts, “school teachers will not have to introduce much more content,” Tang said. The proposed new textbooks come just weeks before Hong Kong marks 25 years of British tradition. The region has been promised 50 years of semi-autonomy, but activists say the post-2019 crackdown, national security law, electoral changes and growing central government intervention in civil society and the media have effectively ended it. autonomy. This year’s anniversary, July 1, will also mark the first day in power for the new Beijing-led city leader, John Lee. Lee, the former security chief, will take over from Lam. China’s top leaders have traditionally attended the swearing-in ceremony. Xi Jinping’s presence has not been confirmed, but speculation has grown that at least one Hong Kong primary school said it was looking for students to spend a week in a hotel quarantine, suggesting that preparations for a strict “loop” system would allow Xi to visit. Additional references by Chi Hui Lin and Xiaoqian Zhu
