Hong Kong Orders Schools to Teach Sweeping Pro-China Curriculum

Hong Kong ordered schools to adopt a new national education curriculum that aims to instill “an affection for the Chinese people” and weed out teachers who breach a security law imposed by Beijing last year.

The measures, announced late Thursday, will require primary and secondary school students to memorize the law’s offenses, which include subversion, secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. Authorities are also looking to incorporate national security education into all subjects, from geography to biology, the government said in a statement.

“The fundamentals of national security education are to develop in students a sense of belonging to the country, an affection for the Chinese people, a sense of national identity, as well as an awareness of and a sense of responsibility for safeguarding national security,” the Education Bureau said in a statement. “As far as prevention and education are concerned, schools have a significant role to play.”

The announcement is Hong Kong’s biggest move yet to overhaul the education system, which Beijing has blamed for fostering dissent that fueled months of street protests in 2019 opposing Beijing’s tightening grip over the former British colony. University and high school students comprised a majority of the frontline protesters, and people under 18 years of age represented almost a fifth of the roughly 9,000 arrests as of last May.

Hong Kong authorities had previously vowed to “cut off” the “black hands” in the education system and revoke teachers’ certifications for discussing subjects like Hong Kong independence. The statement on Thursday said all school staff should “step up the prevention and suppression” of teaching deemed in breach of the security law and “help students gain a correct understanding” of the legislation.

Many parents and teachers have cited Beijing’s growing influence over Hong Kong’s schools as a key reason they are seeking to use the U.K. pathway to citizenship for British National (Overseas) passport holders.