Children’s books are the latest victim of the decline in freedom of expression in Hong Kong

This trend has been in place since the police brutally suppressed the mass protests of 2019. Demonstrators were concerned about China’s growing influence over the international financial city of Hong Kong. Since then, their fears have been resoundingly confirmed. Hong Kong’s freedoms are shrinking at a rapid pace, in contrast to the promise made by China upon delivery from Britain.

A number of media outlets critical of the government have been forced to close in recent years, activists calling for more democracy have been imprisoned and thousands have been exiled.

Now the eyes are directed For the first time against children’s books. Books classified as malicious and inciting hatred against the government according to the ruling issued against the five authors.

One of the books is about wolves trying to occupy a village and eat the sheep that live there. Do not provoke unexpected anger among the sheep that launch the counterattack.

For Judge Kwok Wai-kin, this is a clear reference to the political turmoil of 2019. According to him, the books paint a picture of a China ruled by a “brutal dictator” and readers are indoctrinated to become separatists. According to the ruling, it is a violation of the Anti-Sedition Act, which is a thing of the past when Hong Kong was a British colony. Critics now accuse China of using the law to silence critics and stifle free speech.

The five who Behind the book stands all the members of the Speech Teachers Guild who consider themselves innocent of the accusations. However, they have admitted that their superstitions reflect social issues. They want to explain to the children what is going on, they said in the interviews. A defense attorney stated that if people were not allowed to express different aspects of the event, the truth would be concealed.

There’s a battle for kids’ brains here, and Beijing has bigger muscles. In recent years, the central government has emphasized that curricula in Hong Kong schools will become more “national”. According to the new textbooks where Hong Kong, for example, was never a British colony, but occupied by Great Britain. At the same time, textbooks on critical thinking have been replaced by books on “civic values”.

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