HONG KONG, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters
surrounded Hong Kong’s government headquarters on Monday over a
plan to introduce a pro-China school curriculum that they
describe as an attempt to brainwash students.
Chanting “No to brainwashing education. Withdraw national
education”, some 8000 people denounced a Hong Kong
government-funded booklet entitled “The China Model” they say
glorifies China’s single Communist party rule while glossing
over more brutal aspects of its rule and political
controversies.
One hunger striker was taken away on a stretcher on the
third straight day of protests after fasting for more than 40
hours.
The protests represent a challenge for Hong Kong’s new
pro-Beijing leader Leung Chun-ying, who took office in July, and
who has come under pressure for policies that have highlighted
underlying tensions as the financial hub becomes increasingly
intertwined, economically and socially, with China.
Polls suggest Hong Kong public distrust towards China is at
a record high some 15 years after the former British colony
reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, with many fearing Beijing’s
hand encroaching increasingly into the city’s cherished freedoms
and political affairs.
Many of the protesters were young students who flocked to
the demonstrations straight after their first day back at
school, some heckling Leung to scrap the scheme or step down.
Despite protracted public opposition to the scheme including
a late July rally that drew some 90,000 people, officials
resisted calls to scrap it from local primary and secondary
schools, saying it was aimed at instilling a greater sense of
national pride and belonging towards China.
“The important thing is to ensure that the public concern or
the parents’ and the students’ worry about the so-called
brainwashing will not happen,” said Hong Kong’s number two
official, Carrie Lam.
“But that will only be achievable by more communication
between the various stakeholders and by putting the trust in the
school sponsoring authorities and the individual schools.”
Hong Kong officials say schools may adopt the curriculum
voluntarily with the scheme not to become mandatory until 2015.
The protests are a continuation of demonstrations that first
flared on Saturday, with many pledging to fight on including a
small band of hunger strikers. One middle-aged female academic
was stretchered off late on Monday for medical treatment after
going on hunger strike for over 40 hours.
While the curriculum touches on some negative aspects of
contemporary Chinese history including unfair land grabs by
corrupt officials and a toxic milk powder scandal, it makes no
mention of the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy
protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Bobby Yip; Editing by Alison
Williams)
