(TibetanReview.net, Jul19’20) – Although it was more than anything else the fear of torture and lengthy jail terms which has been the main preventive factor, China feels that its patriotism education had enabled it to ensure peace and stability in the country as well as in territories like Tibet and Xinjing and is now set to launch patriotism lessons in Hong Kong as well.
Convincing itself of the fact that “anti-government protests, riots and social unrest in Hong Kong were due to absence of national security education,” China is now planning to “plant seeds of national identity and patriotic spirit in the hearts of Hong Kong, Macau youths,” reported timesnownews.com Jul 19.
‘Such efforts were made in China after the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989 but increased rapidly after Xi Jinping took control of the Chinese Communist Party, the report noted.
To begin with, China has opened a “national security education” base in Shenzhen to ensure Hong Kong youths are patriotic. The centre is charged with helping pupils from Hong Kong and Macau to “enhance their constitutional and national awareness through education”, the report said, citing China’s official Xinhua news agency.
The Sunday Times has quoted Du Ling, a senior party official in Shenzhen, as saying the base would “plant seeds of national identity and patriotic spirit in the hearts of more Hong Kong and Macau youth”.
An article in draconian Hong Kong national security law, which China passed just recently, also includes a mandate for Hong Kong’s chief executive to educate residents on topics of sovereignty and national security.
The Communist party of China is said to believe that anti-government protests, riots and social unrest in Hong Kong are due to the absence of national security education.
In particular, with the aim to thwart the spread of liberal ideas and calls for democracy in the country, the Chinese leadership has been promoting patriotic education to inculcate national pride and loyalty amongst the younger generations by rallying behind the party.
Chinese authorities are said to feel, according to The Washington Post, that “three decades of patriotic education have been remarkably successful in moulding a generation of loyal citizens.”
The report said China was applying the post-Tiananmen Square re-education model, which was implemented in the mainland, in Hong Kong as it hopes that by exporting and promoting the mainland’s version of history and education it can rein in the protestors.
