Why learning to love China isn’t like any other school subject

Patriotic education has become a top political priority in Hong Kong in the wake of years of social unrest, yet this emphasis is nothing new. Tung Chee-hwa, the city’s first chief executive, was a strong supporter of integrating Chinese values into young people’s education.

Tung’s successor, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, and his administration developed Hong Kong’s first attempt at national education in the form of a new school subject, moral and national education. This initiative continued to face strong community pressure through the beginning of Leung Chun-ying’s tenure as chief executive.

Leung eventually shelved the national education guidelines in October 2012, though he stopped short of withdrawing the subject entirely. It remained as a curriculum option for schools that wished to use it. The post-2019 emphasis on patriotic education, therefore, is best seen as the most recent attempt under Chinese sovereignty.