The former colony is preparing to celebrate in two weeks the 25th anniversary of the return of the territory by the British crown to China. But, according to the new textbooks being published for the second grades, Hong Kong was in fact not, or no longer, a British colony. A ” correction of history taught to Hong Kongers in the hope, no doubt, of making them more patriotic.
With our correspondent in Hong Kong, Florence de Changy
Hong Kong was not or no longer a British colony during the handover in 1997, because China had obtained from the United Nations, in 1972, that Hong Kong be removed from the list of colonies. This is the technical argument put forward in one of the new textbooks that have been put online so that high schools can make their choice for the next school year, and that the South China Morning Postthe major English-language newspaper ofhong kongexamined.
The courses of “ Liberal Studies » suspended
Since last year, the courses of “ Liberal Studies “, where we learned in particular critical thinking, were suspended, suspected by the pro-Beijing camp of planting revolutionary ideas in the heads of young Hong Kongers. The material has been replaced by a course of “ Citizenship and social development centered on national security, patriotism, identity and public order.
Since the national security law came into force two years ago, more than 4,000 teachers have also left their posts and tens of thousands of Hong Kongers have left Hong Kong mainly for the education of their children.
► To read: Hong Kong, from the handover on July 1, 1997, to the repression