HONG KONG – First comes the colorful visuals: an animation of the Hong Kong skyline, like the opening sequence of a children’s show. Then, a smiling girl and boy appear on the screen, sandwiching a cartoon owl wearing a graduation cap and round glasses. Together, they make an unusual exhortation.
“Let’s learn about national security!”
So begins an animated video unveiled by the Hong Kong government this week to instill patriotism, loyalty and a strict love of the law in its younger residents.
Over the next seven minutes, the boy and girl, led by “Uncle Owl”, take a turbulent tour of the dangers Hong Kong faces, such as terrorism and hostile foreign powers. They learn about the forces that protect them from these dangers: the Hong Kong police and, ultimately, the Chinese central government.
“We are still young. How can we contribute to our society and country? The boy asks, a thought bubble floating over his head.
“I know! We must comply with the law,” the girl replies when a light appears above her with a ding.
The video, which officials said would be used to teach elementary school students, is part of a broader effort to reform the school curriculum after months of violent protests against the government in 2019.
Students represented almost 40% of prisoners during the height of the demonstrations, and many officials accused teachers of corrupting young minds and turning them against Hong Kong and China. The Department of Education promised to eradicate the “black sheep”, especially after Beijing imposed a broad national security law last June.
Now, he has shown how he plans to do this – starting with students from 6 years old.
“Half speechless,” said Carson Tsang, a high school student and spokesman for the Hong Kong Ideologist, a student activism group, about the video, adding that he saw no need to teach these young people about national security.
The video was released on Thursday evening alongside dozens of pages of guidelines on how schools are advised to offer instructions on the new national security law. The rules specify that elementary school students must learn about how the People’s Liberation Army protects them and the importance of central government agencies operating directly in the city – a new clause in the law.
Previously, Chinese authorities had largely remained in the background in Hong Kong, a former British colony that promised a high degree of autonomy when it returned to China in 1997.
High school students will study the peculiarities of the law, with national security education grouped into subjects as comprehensive as biology and geography. Teachers are instructed to emphasize that “the campus is not a place to express political aspirations” and to tell students that “as far as national security is concerned, there is no room for debate or compromise”.
School officials should call the police about students or teachers if the situation becomes “serious”, the guidelines say. Activities that can lead to law enforcement intervention include chanting slogans, singing political songs and wearing clothes with political messages.
“It is definitely not too early to start primary school,” Kevin Yeung, Hong Kong’s secretary of education, told reporters on Friday. “We can start with simple things first. In high school, we can study more. “
He continued: “In general, we are aiming for the concept of national security and we hope to train students to consciously assume the responsibility to defend national security”.
Compared to the strict warnings in the guidelines, the video – with its extravagant sound effects, pastel tones and funny animations – looks accessible, even smooth. But his message to young viewers is no less clear about China’s vision for Hong Kong.
The owl begins by stating that “we all know that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of our country” – a reply to activists who have called for Hong Kong’s independence. The owl then points to a map of China, with a dotted line also stating that Taiwan and contested parts of the South China Sea are Chinese territory.
Then, the owl outlines the crimes that the security law establishes: Subversion, she says, without defining the term. Terrorism, with dynamite animation exploding. Collusion with a foreign country, which is illustrated by a silhouette of a person holding bags of money and being controlled by puppet strings.
All the while, the soundtrack – vaguely electronic, relentlessly optimistic, somewhat reminiscent of corporate music – never stops.
Later, the owl uses terms that its young audience can understand better. “Imagine if some students did what they wanted at school, like skipping classes and running here and there,” he suggests. “How would the class be?”
The owl also compares national security law, which defines crimes that can be punished by life imprisonment, with the expectation that people will not play music at night. “While we enjoy rights and freedoms, we must consider the impact on others,” he says. The girl, who was swinging happily in front of the speakers, obediently puts on the headphones.
On social media, some scoffed at the video for hoping that elementary school students would understand words like inalienable and promulgation. Others feared it could still be highly effective.
Tsang, the student activist, said that young children exposed to materials like the video would not learn to question official narratives.
“Eventually, the government trains the minds of elementary school students,” he said, adding that teachers would be reluctant to back down for fear of violating the law themselves.
Ip Kin-yuen, a former parliamentarian who represented the education sector, denounced the guidelines more broadly, asking why there was no public consultation period.
Ip said he is not opposed to the idea of teaching students about national security. But he said the government’s guidelines seemed more geared towards indoctrination than instruction.
“If we want education in national security, it must be education,” he said. “It must be a real and genuine education to open students’ minds, not to suppress them.”