My Take | To enjoy freedom, learn its limits
Education Bureau warning to students not to engage in independence advocacy is both necessary and long overdue
The laws are not just for deterrence and punishment, wrote the 18th century enlightenment philosopher Montesquieu, but for public education as well.
The Education Bureau has written to more than 500 secondary schools as well as universities to advise staff and students not to promote Hong Kong independence, join illegal societies, take part in their activities or assist them in any way. Joining groups such as the banned Hong Kong National Party could be considered a criminal offence, it said.
This is not only a long-overdue warning, but a necessary step to make sure students don’t commit to Hong Kong independence. Students should be educated early on the first principle of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the constitutional requirement of the Basic Law, which is that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China.
Hong Kong’s unity with the rest of China is part of a larger national unity that embraces the whole of the country. This is a core value of the nation, which dictates both domestic and foreign policy. It may not be the core value of America or the West, but it is ours. It’s part of the Chinese cultural DNA, evolved and learned from both ancient and modern Chinese history of national disasters.
In simple terms, unity is good and disunity is disaster.