HK deepens ideology reform
Education cultivates ‘soil,’ security bill eliminates ‘weeds’ for ‘one country, two systems’
Ahead of the implementation of the new national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (SAR), the local education and media systems are now facing unprecedented reforms with the aim of enhancing national security education while correcting wrongdoings on ideology that would endanger national security. Some observers see improving education as cultivating “soil” for “one country, two systems” while the upcoming law aims to eliminate “weeds” from it.
Such a move also echoes the demand of most parents of Hong Kong, as they do not tolerate opposition and extreme forces from “kidnapping” students for political ends, observers and representatives from those sectors said.
The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong SAR and Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council released statements urging “cutting off” the black hands behind the anti-government movement and saving Hong Kong children, which shows that central and local authorities would take necessary measures to help local campuses “de-politicize” and work on some deeply-rooted problems, especially on ideology, observers said.
“More and more parents in Hong Kong are rejecting the ‘Hong Kong-style’ Culture Revolution, and their confidence in the local education system has been shaken amid the social turmoil, hoping that lo
cal educators and schools would stick to the roles that they should have played,” Lawrence Tang Fei, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies told the Global Times on Friday.
Joshua Wong Chi-fung, an antigovernment protest activist, and Isaac Cheng Ka Long, who helped plot a strike-vote plan for June 14 backed by radical group Demosisto to defy the national security law, have been identified as key people in the statements of central authorities as they continued to commit crimes by instigating Hong Kong youth and using them as “ammunition” and “tools” against the national security law. “Such evil hearts and despicable acts would add another record to their history of crimes,” read the office’s statement.
The liaison office also released a similar message to the public on Friday, claiming to firmly support the Hong Kong SAR in establishing and improving its education system in line with “one country, two systems.” It pointed out that Hong Kong’s hard-won success and prosperity are based on talent. However, some political forces driven by ulterior motivations have spared no efforts to bring politics to the campus, which severely affected normal teaching and studying activities.
“Save the children, save education and save Hong Kong” has become an urgent call that needs society’s attention, the liaison office said.
“Education and national security are two pivot points of overall governance in order to adapt to ‘one country, two systems,’ which both need to gradually push forward,” Tian Feilong, an associate professor at the Law School of Beihang University told the Global Times on Friday.
Those messages from top authorities to further enhance core values among Hong Kong educators and students in line with the Basic Law and “one country, two systems” surfaced when the local education authority began pushing for local education reforms in an unprecedented manner, some observers said. More detailed requirements are expected to be released in the coming months on various aspects, including a code of conduct for professionals, national security education training, and the creation of a normal social environment for mindset changing.
Detailed measures
The draft decision to formulate the national security law for Hong Kong also states that the Hong Kong SAR chief executive must regularly report to the central government on the SAR’s performance on safeguarding national security, carry out national security education, and forbid acts which endanger national security.
A new version of a code of conduct for local teachers is being revised and will soon released with more detailed professional ethics requirements, Tang noted. “In other words, what can be done and what can’t be done on campus,” he said. He added that instigating school strikes or defaming the national anthem won’t be allowed.
Other ideology-related sectors like media also face deepening reforms to implement the correct values on matters involving national identity, sovereignty and national security.