In April 2023, Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary Eric Chan bid farewell to about 200 Hong Kong high school students at the West Kowloon High-Speed Rail Station. This was the first batch to embark on the first-ever mandatory trip to mainland China after these visits were included as part of the new “revolutionary education.”
Since then, over 43,000 students and 5,000 teachers have participated in this ” red study” tour in mainland China. The tours are part of their curriculum in a new subject, Citizenship and Social Development, which was introduced to replace Liberal Studies in 2021.
New curriculum to ‘cultivate patriotism’
During this trip, the students will visit critical spots where the Communist Red Army led by Mao Zedong consolidated its power during the Long March (1934-1935). Besides that, they will also dress up as revolutionary-era soldiers and “experience the daily life of soldiers” by participating in military-like drills and experiences.
Experts believe it’s all part of a ploy by pro-Beijing leaders in Hong Kong to indoctrinate young people, as young as preschool, and make them more receptive to authoritarian rule. Beijing blamed the discarded Liberal Studies for the prevalence of mass protests that have been happening in the city since the British handed over the city to China in 1997.
Authorities in Hong Kong have prosecuted many minors for participating in the 2019 protest movement. Many have been sent for “reeducation” in military-style bootcamp training.
According to a circular sent to schools by the Hong Kong Education Bureau, high school students will participate in “military-style experiences” at a national education institution in the southern province of Guangdong. According to Wen Wei Po, a Beijing-backed newspaper, this move will “cultivate patriotism and enhance national security awareness.”
The Education Bureau plans to send around 50,000 students “abroad” every year. Authorities have also asked teachers in Hong Kong to report any “breach of laws and regulations or deviation from the moral standards generally acceptable to society.”
Similar tactics were used for brainwashing in Beijing
Some parents have protested by sending their children to study abroad. According to The Epoch Times, one parent, Mrs. Lam, first inquired whether her son’s new school would opt out of the study tour in mainland China. However, she was told it was compulsory, and failure to do so would result in him not graduating.
Mrs. Lam says Beijing used similar tactics to brainwash younger minds following the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Massacre. She believes the government sees the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition demonstrations as identical to the 1989 peaceful protest.
Once confirmed that these trips were mandatory, she sent her son to study in the U.S. because she says she’s seen first-hand the effects of “revolutionary education.” She says her mother experienced deception and indoctrination by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) while attending college in mainland China, and she wouldn’t want her son to share the same.
‘Travel thousands of miles’
In August 2023, Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping wrote back to a class of high school students in Hong Kong urging them to “read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles to gain an in-depth understanding of the history, culture, and current situation of their motherland, to deepen their patriotic feelings and hone their schools,” Hong Kong education secretary Choi Yuk-lin said.
According to Wen Wei Po, a pro-Beijing state-owned newspaper based in Hong Kong, the number of school tours to mainland China will be increased to 26 (from 22). The number of days may also increase as students travel further inland to places like Fujian, Chongqing, Hunan, Guizhou, and Shanghai.
Hong Kong has also intensified “national security education” in universities, with compulsory classes and tests for students. Last month, we saw photos from the University of Hong Kong dressed as “revolutionary-era communist soldiers” at Yanan — a former Mao-era base.
“After dinner, the students watched the first red-themed immersive play, Return to Yan’an. In the new era, the younger generation feels close to red culture — many students couldn’t hide their tears when they watched it,” a report on their trip posted on the social media platform Weibo said.
“Every plant, every tree, every brick, and every tile here carries the red gene,” the report added.
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