Censorship in Hong Kong: The Oppressed Classroom

When Hong Kong was handed over to China, Beijing promised freedom and independence. 25 years later, textbooks are censored and teachers from abroad have to sign an oath of allegiance.

School lessons in Hong Kong. The classroom has become a place of fear, of distrust. “For me and some teachers, we’re afraid that students might tell what was taught at home and then the parents would pick up words or phrases from the teachers to file a complaint with the school,” says one high school teacher . She prefers not to give her real name. She suggests Ms. Wong, because that means “yellow” in Cantonese. The color yellow shows that they belong to the Liberals.

Free thinking and teaching no longer desired

At school she teaches a subject that will be abolished next year: Liberal Studies, translated free studies in which the children learn to discuss and develop their own opinions. Instead, there will be a new subject in the future that will teach patriotism. “It’s crazy to think about how we should teach patriotism. Patriotism is a feeling,” Wong points out. The 39-year-old does not want to teach this subject. She will leave Hong Kong at the end of this year – like so many other teachers. Until then, she must strictly adhere to the textbooks. These have been systematically revised and censored by the authorities in recent years. This is how Wong criticizes:

She says it’s ridiculous that foreign English teachers should also sign a document declaring that they are loyal to Hong Kong. She is convinced that most foreign teachers will leave Hong Kong, as will two of her friends: “Both will leave Hong Kong, back to Australia, back to the UK. Instead of signing this paper.”

National Student Safety Act

Innes Tang is a founding member of the National Security Education Center in Hong Kong, a national security and education organization. For example, he provides the teachers with material on how to explain the National Security Law to the students. He thinks security and stability, as promoted by the government, is important, because he himself found the democracy protests in 2019 disturbing and violent: “I think we’ve had experiences. We’ve seen how teachers made the students do it to become violent. This is not right, because teachers are supposed to protect the students.”

Therefore, he also advocates an oath of allegiance for teachers: “As a parent, I would say that I agree with the government’s rule of requiring all teachers to sign an oath of allegiance and knowing that they have to take it. I think it is a good thing, because maybe then we’ll feel more comfortable.” Since the Chinese central government passed the so-called National Security Law for Hong Kong in 2020, anything anti-government can be criminalized.

“It’s dangerous to talk to journalists”

You can see what that means in the story of another teacher. “It’s really dangerous to talk to foreign journalists. Some people are in custody or in prison for speaking to foreign journalists.” Because that too can be construed as a conspiracy with foreign powers. For a year now, the former history teacher has no longer taught at a school, but only privately. The reason: “I had posted a message on social media criticizing the Hong Kong police’s use of force against innocent, harmless citizens. But then someone I didn’t know filed a complaint against me. And now I’ve lost my job.”

The complaint is lodged in a government database. That means he doesn’t have a chance at other schools either. Many teachers and parents are leaving Hong Kong. They consider whether it might not be better for their children to emigrate. Dorothee took this step and moved to Great Britain with her two children for a better future: