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“I want him to grow up in an environment with enough freedom to do what he wants to do and not be restricted by some invisible threat,” mentioned Sarah, who requested CNN use a pseudonym for worry of being focused by authorities.
In June, Beijing imposed a nationwide safety regulation on Hong Kong that bans secession, subversion, terrorist actions and collusion with overseas powers. The regulation was handed to quell the pro-democracy motion that destabilized the monetary hub final yr, however its attain went far past policing protests to criminalizing sure conversations, political positions, publications and even social media posts.
In Hong Kong’s school rooms, it’s now unclear what can legally be taught or mentioned.
The Education Bureau has ordered faculties to take away books and educating supplies that would violate the regulation. Administrators can name the police if somebody insults the Chinese anthem, which should be performed in faculties on sure holidays. In September, a scholar who displayed a photograph with the slogan “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now” throughout class was suspended for per week.
Sarah’s transfer is not only for her son: she is a instructor in Hong Kong. The English Schools Foundation, a global schooling group, launched new pointers in September for lecturers, seen by CNN, which concluded that the classroom “is not a safe space” for dialogue or debate.
It suggested lecturers to “always be aware of how what you are teaching could be interpreted/misinterpreted by others.” The former Chief Executive of Hong Kong has even posted on his Facebook web page private particulars of lecturers charged over skilled misconduct throughout the protest final yr.
In Hong Kong, Sarah owns an house and a automobile — each uncommon privileges in a metropolis the place shopping for a house is dear and taking public transport is the norm. But she’s ready to offer all of it up for an unsure life away from household and buddies.
“We will do any kind of job. Be a cleaner, do the dishes, be a cashier,” she mentioned. “Because it’s the value we place on the freedom that’s more important than the materialistic life we have.”
“We are sacrificing a lot to move. It will be expensive,” she mentioned. “We want our children to study in a country that offers more freedom.”
“Illegal ideas”
Authorities didn’t give particulars about the classroom dialogue, however native media reported that the instructor confirmed college students a TV documentary, that includes pro-independence determine Andy Chan. They had been then requested to reply questions from a worksheet about freedom of speech and proposals for Hong Kong independence. In response to the incident, Chief Executive Carrie Lam mentioned “illegal ideas” and “pro-independence” ideas can not exist in faculties.
Pro-Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip says the adjustments to schooling will educate college students a extra balanced historical past of China, relatively than stifle dialog.
“The basic purpose is to bring up our children to at least have proper respect for our country,” Ip mentioned. “I have received complaints about teachers using the classroom as a vehicle of the political beliefs, even stirring up hatred of police, of the Chinese government, of the people of China, portraying them as dirty, backward, repressive.”
That was the final time the college students of Hong Kong received in opposition to Beijing.
Since 2012, considered one of Beijing’s main goals has been to create a era of patriotic and dependable Hong Kong youth, in keeping with Lester Shum, onetime deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and now an elected lawmaker. He mentioned the present adjustments may create a new era who will probably be “totally brainwashed, not knowing about the wrongdoings from the authorities.”
But Shum says it is unclear how profitable these goals will probably be, since college students can nonetheless entry free data from the web and the press.
Next era
Today, few younger folks inside mainland China find out about the Tiananmen bloodbath, or pro-democracy protests, as a result of the occasion is censored from the Chinese web and books, and isn’t taught in faculties. Many of those that find out about the incident imagine in the official model that the crackdown was essential for China’s stability and rise.
But in Hong Kong it’s going to take far longer to “brainwash the younger generation,” He mentioned. “Hong Kong has a strong civil society,” she defined.
He is the writer of “Tiananmen Exiles: Voices of the Struggle for Democracy in China.” For years, she taught seminars on the motion in American universities earlier than transferring to Hong Kong final yr. She was wanting ahead to attending the June Four commemoration for the first time in Hong Kong, the solely place on Chinese soil the place an annual vigil is held. But authorities banned the occasion in June for the first time in 30 years, citing coronavirus issues. Many worry it’s going to by no means happen once more. A smaller crowd of individuals nonetheless gathered in Victoria Park this yr, resulting in the arrest of dozens of democracy activists who had been accused of knowingly collaborating in an “unauthorized assembly.”
He nonetheless teaches her college students about the Tiananmen bloodbath and historic episodes deemed taboo by the Communist Party, however fears of repercussions have adopted her all through her profession. In July, the University of Hong Kong fired Benny Tai, a distinguished regulation professor and pro-democracy activist, who mentioned educational workers in the metropolis “are no longer free to make controversial statements.” Local media have reported situations of professors with pro-democracy views whose contracts have been denied.
“We never know what the red line is, that’s the root of censorship and self-censorship,” Rowena He mentioned.
“Those in power can easily manipulate history and erase memory,” He mentioned. “I try my best to speak out the truth — that’s the resistance.”
Some of Rowena’s college students plan to depart Hong Kong after commencement. One of them, Tyler, who requested to make use of a pseudonym to keep away from repercussions, mentioned he’ll transfer to the UK to pursue graduate research in Chinese historical past, due to the “censorship problems” in Hong Kong. “The narrative in Hong Kong and China is quite controlled,” he mentioned.
“Under the security law, many of us are afraid of being spied on by police,” Tyler mentioned. “So now we are quite worried, but I still saw a lot of students who are willing to sacrifice themselves.”
Some college students are decided to remain in Hong Kong. One of Tyler’s classmates plans to develop into a main faculty instructor, so she will be able to preserve alive the reminiscence of necessary occasions, comparable to the 1989 crackdown.
“We need someone to continue to teach the next generation and continue to tell them what is right and wrong, so not just let them to be brainwashed by the government,” mentioned the scholar, who did not wish to be named for worry of being focused by authorities.
But Sarah, the instructor who’s transferring her household to the UK, doesn’t wish to wait to see what occurs to the subsequent era. Her largest worry is not what’s taking place in Hong Kong at the moment, however what may occur in a long time to return.
By leaving Hong Kong now, she’s hoping her son will not have to face a troublesome resolution in the future about whether or not to desert the solely metropolis he is aware of.
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