Hong Kong children as young as six years old will be taught the “great importance” of the territory’s national security law and what constitutes foreign interference and subversion under new education guidelines for the city.
Beijing imposed the security law in June last year after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in opposition to a proposed extradition bill in 2019 in protests that evolved into calls for democracy and sometimes descended into violence.
The Education Bureau’s guidelines, released late on Thursday night, suggest Beijing’s plans for the semi-autonomous territory go beyond quashing dissent and aim to overhaul society and bring its most spirited city more in line with the Communist Party-controlled mainland.