Opinion | Why learning to love China isn’t like any other school subject

Patriotic education has become a top political priority in Hong Kong in the wake of years of social unrest, yet this emphasis is nothing new. Tung Chee-hwa, the city’s first chief executive, was a strong supporter of integrating Chinese values into young people’s education.

Tung’s successor, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, and his administration developed Hong Kong’s first attempt at national education in the form of a new school subject, moral and national education. This initiative continued to face strong community pressure through the beginning of Leung Chun-ying’s tenure as chief executive.

Leung eventually shelved the national education guidelines in October 2012, though he stopped short of withdrawing the subject entirely. It remained as a curriculum option for schools that wished to use it. The post-2019 emphasis on patriotic education, therefore, is best seen as the most recent attempt under Chinese sovereignty.

Bolstered by the passage of multiple national security laws, the Basic Law and National Security Law Test for teachers and compulsory national security education courses in the city’s universities, the current initiative should have a better chance of success.

In addition, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee passed a patriotic education law in October 2023. The law will not be included in Annex III of the Basic Law, a process which signals a national law will be applied in Hong Kong. Even so, the city’s government discussing the law makes it clear the legislation will exert significant influence here.