Tag: Cultural Revolution

Hong Kong’s New Patriotism Education Initiative Raises Alarm

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee unveiled his second Policy Address in late October, introducing “patriotic education” for the first time in Hong Kong’s national education system. The Chief Secretary for Administration will oversee a task force to coordinate efforts across government and non-government sectors to promote this initiative.

Scholars noted the timing of Lee’s announcement, coinciding with China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee passing the “Patriotic Education Law.” Led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, akin to the Cultural Revolution’s Central Cultural Group, the task force aims for comprehensive ideological education.

China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee passed the “Patriotic Education Law of the People’s Republic of China” on October 24, effective January 1 next year. The following day, Lee integrated patriotic education into Hong Kong’s national education system, forming the “Patriotic Education Working Group” under Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki. This move aligns with mainland China’s law, emphasizing Chinese history, culture, and national identity education.

The Vanishing Memory of the Cultural Revolution

The Cultural Revolution, occurring from 1966 to 1976, caused an estimated 1.6 to 2 million deaths and left lasting trauma on generations. Under Mao Zedong, this movement aimed to eliminate non-Communist elements in Chinese society but ended up overturning revered institutions. Teachers and schools were stigmatized, books were burned, museums looted, and private art collections destroyed. Intellectuals were tortured.

In China, where information is often controlled, history is continually rewritten. Recent government actions, like censoring COVID-19 research and altering textbooks on Hong Kong’s colonial history, threaten to erase the Cultural Revolution from collective memory. This rewriting endangers the country’s future.

The Chinese government has never been keen on preserving the memory of those dark years. Museum exhibits often skipped over those years or briefly mentioned them in a muted tone.

点击查看中文报道