Beijing concerned about national identity in Hong Kong youth
The central government tells local deputies to NPC it's worried about a lack of nationalism
Beijing is said to be "gravely concerned" that Hong Kong youth lack a sense of national identity.
A Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress, Michael Tien Puk-sun, said yesterday that the issue was raised at a meeting of local deputies in Shenzhen.
The Standing Committee's deputy secretary-general, Qiao Xiaoyang, read out a letter by vice-chairman Li Jianguo expressing Beijing's concern.
"He said the central government was gravely concerned," Tien said, citing the letter.
"The reason why they see a problem is that polls have found that more people identified themselves as Hongkongers instead of Chinese. Some have even waved the old Hong Kong flag, and there was strong opposition to the introduction of national education."
Tien said that after the handover Beijing had hoped the mainland and Hong Kong would grow closer. It feared that if Hong Kong youth resisted the motherland, the two sides would grow apart.
The Shenzhen gathering was the first working meeting since the 36 deputies were elected last month.