A cartoon owl with glasses teaching about ‘subversion’ and activities that foster a sense of national pride: Hong Kong’s children will now learn some very different lessons as new guidelines align schools with the broad national security law that China imposed on the territory last year.
Students up to six years old in Hong Kong will now learn the basics of national security law and the details of its four crimes – subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – in a campaign to instill patriotism from an early age.
The authorities publicized the reforms through a series of guides sent to schools and videos released online.
They will be a blow to many parents in Hong Kong, who have long feared an education reform in the city led by Beijing.
A new audiobook released Friday by the Education Bureau features an animated owl wearing glasses wearing a graduation cap and explaining the law to students.
“We have the right to express our opinions by legal means, but we must not do anything that threatens other people or society,” explains the owl in the video entitled “Let’s learn about national security”.
Schools are also encouraged to “organize various game activities, such as puppet theater, board games … to establish a good environment and improve students’ understanding of national security”, according to the guidelines.
“As far as national security is concerned, there is no room for debate or compromise,” the city’s Department of Education said in a circular issued to schools on Thursday.
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Beijing imposed national security law in Hong Kong in June 2020, putting the global financial center more firmly on an authoritarian path after months of fierce protests.
The new educational guidelines published on Thursday suggest that his plans for Hong Kong go beyond simply suppressing dissent and may aim at broader social reform that aligns his busiest city with the Communist Party-ruled continent.
The Hong Kong government has tried to introduce “national education” courses to stimulate patriotism towards China, but has often faced reactions in a city that traditionally enjoys greater freedoms than the continent.
But national security will now be on the curriculum for several subjects, including biology and geography in secondary schools.
A Department of Education spokesman said in a statement on Thursday that schools must ensure that staff adopt appropriate strategies to improve students’ sense of national identity.
“Schools have a significant role to play,” said the spokesman. Raymond Yeung, a former professor who was partially blinded by a projectile during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, described Reuters guidelines as “one-dimensional, if not brainwashing”.
The United States, its allies and international human rights organizations have strongly criticized China for national security law and what they say has been a growing crackdown on dissidents in Hong Kong.
In his first major foreign policy speech on Thursday, President Joe Biden took a firm stand on China.
“The American leadership must face this new moment of advancing authoritarianism, including China’s growing ambitions to rival the United States,” he said.
A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry responded on Friday, telling a news conference that cooperation between China and the U.S. could benefit the world on issues ranging from climate change to Covid-19.
“China and the United States have broad common interests and assume special and important responsibilities in maintaining world peace and stability,” said spokesman Wang Wenbin.
“Like any relationship … the differences between China and the United States are inevitable, but the common interests far outweigh their differences.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Dawn Liu contributed.