At least two schools have been cited by Hong Kong authorities for singing the country’s flag” to softly.”
A second school’s instructors have been asked to assist students in” cultivating habit and self-confidence” in singing it.
Hong Kong has redoubled the reliance on “patriotic” knowledge since 2020 when China cracked down on the state’s pro- politics activity.
The Hong Kong and Macau Lutheran Church Primary School students ‘ voices were” soft and weak,” according to officials, and” should be strengthened.” Instructors at Yan Chai Hospital Lim Por Yen Secondary School were instructed to “help kids develop the habit of singing the national anthem violently in unison.”
After it inspected primary and secondary schools, interviewed workers and families, and compiled a series of reports released by the state’s education ministry, these opinions were published in a series of information.
Of the 20 schools whose inspection reports were published on the education bureau’s website, at least six were advised to strengthen their curriculum focused on patriotic education.
Some institutions were also praised for sending students to land China and for their” showing confidence in raising the national flag” by the reviews.
A law was passed in Hong Kong in January that mandates that businesses teach students about “patriotic learning” and that businesses also need to do the same in their operations. Although the education is intended to advance the management and philosophy of the Chinese Communist Party, the definition is ambiguous.
Beijing says the legislation is aimed at “unifying ideas” and “gathering power for building a solid country”. But reviewers see it as yet another indicator of Hong Kong’s freedom disappearing.
Since 2020, numerous past opposition politicians and democracy activists have been imprisoned as a result of a contentious national security law that criminalized all forms of opposition. Depsite global criticism, Beijing defends the rules as essential for balance.
In the years since, patriotism has become a byword for China’s growing control of the city. It overhauled Hong Kong’s electoral system with a “patriots’ law” that barred those seen as “unpatriotic” from political office. More recently, it banned what has effectively been the city’s unofficial anthem, a protest song called Glory to Hong Kong, because of its “seditious” possibilities.
According to Hong Kong’s deputy executive John Lee, the city has established a government committee to assist” the new generation truly understand our Chinese culture and our Chinese history.”
The training agency’s latest attempts are seen as part of the same plan.
The commission introduced a new issue in November of last year that may require students as young as eight to begin learning about the newly implemented security law in Beijing. It even covers” Chinese society” and history that corresponds with the Chinese Communist Party’s perspective.
In a circular released by the commission in November, students were told that” Hong Kong has the advantage of enjoying robust support of the Motherland and being strongly connected to the world, which helps them build up social confidence.”
Last month, the bureau also called on parents to work with schools to “help [their children] learn the importance of safeguarding national security and enhance their national identity and national pride”.