Four sets of textbooks for a citizenship class will teach students that the Chinese government never recognized the 19th-century treaties granted by Hong Kong to Britain, the South China Morning Post reported. Britain occupied the island of Hong Kong during the First Opium War and later in 1898 signed a treaty giving the monarchy control of neighboring territories for 99 years. The treaty ended on July 1, 1997, when Hong Kong surrendered to Beijing, ending British control of the city. The ruling Communist Party claims that the agreements signed by the Qing Dynasty were “unequal conditions”. The new books will also uphold the Chinese government’s stance on the violent pro-democracy demonstrations that rocked the city in 2019, blaming “outside forces”. The textbooks were released over the weekend to select schools for teaching fourth graders “citizenship and social development” from September. The courses were implemented after the replacement of a liberal studies course designed in 2009 to teach students critical thinking. The liberal studies course was criticized by the friendly Beijing authorities in 2020 for allegedly influencing young people to protest against the Communist Party. In a statement to Bloomberg, the education bureau said that textbook publishers are responsible for selecting the appropriate textbook material in accordance with the guidelines. The new textbooks claimed that Hong Kong was never a British colony, as the old Chinese government never recognized what it called unequal conditions. According to reports, the books say that the UN removed Hong Kong from the list of British colonies in 1972 at the request of China. In an effort to justify the sweeping National Security Act, which critics say was implemented to quell dissent, a handbook mentions “national security” more than 400 times in its 121 pages. He said the legislation was imposed because of an “urgency” to prevent violence. “Separation and sabotage against the government have been supported in some of these activities, posing a threat to national sovereignty, security and interests,” the book said, according to the South China Morning Post. “Schools need to teach students to think positively and to love their nation,” said the head of the education bureau, according to China’s state-run Global Times.
