Education materials for Hong Kong schools stress following the law and illegality of independence

One wallchart supplied to teachers emphasises that any pursuit of justice cannot involve violent acts

Another poster compares relation of Basic Law and national constitution to the bond between mother and son

Reading Time:3 minutes

Students from Pui Kiu Middle School in North Point take part in a national flag-raising ceremony. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 11:30pm, 19 Jun 2020Updated: 8:56am, 20 Jun 2020

New teaching materials provided to Hong Kong schools tell students to avoid taking part in unlawful activities “in the name of pursuing justice” and stress that the city’s independence has no legal grounds in international law.

The Education Bureau supplied all public primary and secondary schools with three new sets of wallchart posters on Friday, covering Hong Kong’s return to mainland China; human rights and the rule of law; and the national constitution and the Basic Law. The materials can be used during general and liberal studies, as well as Chinese and world history, although schools are not required to.

The push comes amid a broader campaign by authorities to strengthen national identity in the city, including through the adoption of a national anthem law that requires students to sing March of the Volunteers several times a year.

The new materials include a focus on Hong Kong’s relationship with mainland China. Photo: Handout

The new materials note that Hong Kong was taken off the United Nations’ list of Non-Self-Governing Territories in 1972. Members of the list are covered by the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. With the removal, the city’s self-determination was not justified under international law, according to one wallchart.

They also point to a case involving Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Alex Chow Yong-kang, who were convicted of unlawful assembly and incitement after storming a government compound in September 2014, effectively triggering the Occupy Central movement that called for greater democratic reforms.