Hong Kong students protest Beijing's 'brainwashing'

Anti-Communist Party slogans on the umbrella of a protester in Hong Kong.
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A rally organized by the Hong Kong Professional Teacher's Union took place on July 29 to protest the "patriotic education" in school textbooks introduced by the education bureau of the city, reports the Hong Kong-based Oriental Daily News.

The teacher's union claimed about 90,000 people took part in the rally, though the police estimate was about 32,000. The demonstration opposed the introduction of a school curriculum favoring the Communist Party's account of China's history and political system. The government of Hong Kong plans to introduce the new textbooks to state-run primary schools in September this year and to secondary schools from 2013 in a bid to foster a sense of Chinese identity and nationalism among Hong Kong's students.

Wong Hak-lim, vice-president of the Hong Kong Professional Teacher's Union said that the protest movement will not end until the the chief executive of the special administrative region, Leung Chun-ying, promises to abandon the entire "patriotic education" plan. If the government insists on introducing such textbooks to Hong Kong, a student strike may be launched by the union.

The demonstrators on Sunday included both students and their guardians, who believe that the new curriculum is a form of thought control imposed by the central government to brainwash the younger generation of Hong Kong citizens. The latest rally is the second major demonstration in a month since Leung Chun-ying took office on July 1, the anniversary of the city's return to China and a day which sees demonstrations every year against the central government in Beijing. Many in Hong Kong believe the new pro-Beijing chief executive that Leung is secretly a member of the Communist Party.

The Southern Metropolis Daily in Guangdong stuck its neck out in order to cover the demonstration.

While explaining the policy of Hong Kong's education bureau, it also praised the protesters for being peaceful and rational.

The government of Hong Kong has claimed that each school or even teacher is free to decide which textbooks they wish going to use, saying the "patriotic education" will not be imposed on the citizens of Hong Kong by force. Many local citizens are clearly not convinced.