Opinion | China’s ‘nanny state’ push shows how far Beijing will go to get children behind national rejuvenation efforts

The statesman who transformed Singapore into one of the world’s richest and cleanest places famously defended his form of governance by saying, “If Singapore is a nanny state, then I am proud to have fostered one.”

Lee Kuan Yew’s sense of pride in the powerful city state, which can tell its people what to do and what not to do in their day-to-day lives, is being echoed in Beijing as the Chinese government takes that approach to new heights with its efforts to restrict how teenagers spend their time – from their off-campus activities to video games.

The new government regulations read like dictates being asserted by the head of an old clan, deeply worried about the health and safety of children in their large extended families.

In the central government’s regulations on “reducing the burdens on students”, Beijing made it clear that children in Grades 1 and 2 should have no homework, while those in Grades 3-6 must be able to complete their homework in half an hour. After school, kids should engage in “house cleaning, sports, reading and cultural activities”. These points are among those covered in the regulation’s 30 articles.

China’s powerful ministries are now rushing to issue new rules and notices, trying to create for young people a “clean” online world where information deemed harmful – such as gossip about the private lifestyles of celebrities – is kept to a minimum.