My TakeBureaucrats’ absurd plan to send our youngsters to study in war zones – just to please Beijing
Whatever the merits of the ‘One Belt, One Road’ policy, scholarship fund to sponsor studies in some countries along the route is fraught with danger
Officials have finally released details about the HK$1 billion scholarship and cultural exchange scheme for Hong Kong youngsters to visit countries linked by Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” policy. Supporters say it will help young people advance their careers and achieve better understanding of China’s economy and diplomacy.
Detractors say it’s nothing more than brainwashing. Why force successful applicants to plead to promote Beijing’s belt-and-road policy when it makes more sense to encourage them to study globalisation and emerging markets, many of which are on Beijing’s list?
Under the scheme, groups of young people aged 15 to 29 may be sponsored by non-profit or education groups with subsidies of up to HK$300,000. Each person will also receive a daily cash grant, the amount of which depends on the country.
My own reaction is much simpler. Have those officials at the Home Affairs Bureau and the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education responsible for the scheme gone mad? Did they even read the list of countries covered by the belt-and-road policy?
For Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, you get HK$680 a day. In Afghanistan and Iran, they pay a daily HK$1,360, as in a number of Central Asian countries that end with “stan”. I don’t know why, but students who go to Pakistan get HK$670 a day.