London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

New Hong Kong university classes set out dangers of breaking security law

New Hong Kong university classes set out dangers of breaking security law

Last month, several thousand Hong Kong university students, some of them under the watch of a CCTV camera, were the first to take compulsory courses on the territory’s national security law.
The content of the courses, some of which Reuters has seen exclusively, sets out the dangers of breaking the law, in one case demonstrating how a message in a chat group could be interpreted as a serious breach, punishable by up to life in prison.

At Hong Kong Baptist University, at least one CCTV camera was present in the lecture hall, while an unidentified photographer took pictures, according to two students who attended.

The courses represent an attack on academic freedom in Hong Kong's Western-style university education system, critics said.

"In principle, making requirements on particular classes is a very serious infringement of academic freedom," said Katrin Kinzelbach, a political scientist at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, who has conducted extensive research into academic freedom at universities around the world. "Academic freedom means you may study and teach what you are interested in. It also means the freedom to not engage in particular classes."

Hong Kong's national security law, imposed by Beijing last year, itself stipulates that national security must be taught in schools and universities. Hong Kong’s Education Secretary Kevin Yeung said earlier this year that it was a "requirement" for higher education institutions to incorporate national security education into their curriculum, according to a government statement.

The law punishes anything Beijing regards as secession, subversion, terrorism, or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the purpose of the courses or their contents.

Baptist University, a publicly funded liberal arts college with a Christian heritage, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on its course or why a CCTV camera was present in the lecture hall.

The introduction of the courses is the latest move by the pro-Beijing government to clamp down on universities and their students, which Hong Kong and Chinese authorities blamed for stoking and leading some of the occasionally violent pro-democracy protests that took place in 2019. Almost 4,000 of the 10,000-or-so people arrested in connection with the protests were students, according to police.

Since the introduction of the national security law last year, at least six liberal academics have been forced from their university jobs, according to a Reuters tally, while student unions have been disbanded or ousted from campuses and student leaders arrested. Starting next year, universities will be required to raise China's national flag daily, according to education secretary Yeung.

Critics say the clampdown is part of a broader move to neutralise the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. More than 150 people, including many opposition politicians, have been arrested for endangering national security over the past 16 months, while schools, churches, libraries, booksellers, and filmmakers have all been subject to tighter scrutiny.

The global financial hub with a population of 7.5 million has four universities in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and was until recently regarded as one of Asia's freest academic arenas, largely a legacy of British colonial rule which ended in 1997 when the city was handed back to China.

Hong Kong's schools and universities are now being forced to integrate national security and patriotic themes into their teaching, bringing them closer into line with education in mainland China.

Four of the city's eight publicly funded universities - Baptist University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), Lingnan University and Education University of Hong Kong - have launched national security lectures, seminars or talks as a graduation requirement. Hong Kong Metropolitan University, which is self-funded, told Reuters it would soon launch such a course but declined to specify when it would start.

The courses outline the national security law’s 66 articles, detailing how they might be breached, while stressing the need for greater patriotism and national Chinese identity, according to course materials from two Hong Kong universities seen by Reuters and interviews with five students.

The courses include the history of Hong Kong and China, highlighting the subjugation of China by foreign powers in the past, and reference the existence of national security laws in large democratic countries such as the United States and Britain.

At Baptist University, the course took the form of a two-hour seminar by pro-Beijing lawyer Alex Fan, who previously worked at Hong Kong's Department of Justice. In the seminar, he warned students of the sweeping powers of the security law and the severity of punishments for breaking it, according to a 200-page PowerPoint presentation seen by Reuters.

The presentation was followed by a compulsory 20-question multiple-choice test, seen by Reuters, in which students had to identify security law violations by characters with names such as "Ms Naughty" and "Mr Breach." Several students told Reuters they failed the test.

One question in the test described a situation where "Ms Naughty" asks members of a group on messaging app Telegram to block commuter trains to stop people getting to work, with the aim of "compelling" the government to implement universal suffrage for the city's legislature. That was a tactic adopted by pro-democracy protesters in 2019 to achieve one of their five key demands, fiercely opposed by Beijing. Four choices were offered: incitement to secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. Each of those are punishable by up to life in prison under the national security law.

At PolyU, the site of violent clashes between students and police in 2019, a 109-page PowerPoint presentation for its national security course seen by Reuters paraphrases the English liberal philosopher John Locke: "The right to punish is essential to the (social) contract and to morality."

In one section the presentation asks: "Is criticizing the government a crime under the national security law?" The answer given is: "It depends. If the criticism involves any of the four major crimes under the national security law (secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with external forces), it may be counted as a crime."

In response to Reuters’ questions about the course, a representative for PolyU said the university "places a strong emphasis on whole-person development and value education" and that the course was necessary to help students "develop a clear understanding of issues relating to national security in the city."

Students' reaction to the new course at Baptist University ranged from fear to approval.

"I'm scared that my university assignments might get me into trouble," said one 19-year-old Hong Kong student who identified herself only as Mandy. "I'm scared that the government will charge me with crimes I didn't commit because of my coursework."

The course was an attempt at "mind restructuring," said another Hong Kong student, who identified himself as Michael.

"If you are going to do something, you'll do it," said a third student, who identified herself as Lulu. "It's useless. I won't become patriotic after a two-hour talk."

Leo, an 18-year-old from mainland China, welcomed the course, saying that Western countries had influenced the thoughts of students in Hong Kong, and they lacked awareness of national security.

"Mainland students have been immersed in that education since we were small," he told Reuters. "Deep in our hearts, we have a strong sense of identity towards our country, unlike those in Hong Kong."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×