Hong Kong holds summit on raising public awareness of patriotic education

HONG KONG, July 10 (Xinhua) -- A summit was held in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Saturday to raise the public awareness of patriotic education and enhance the patriotic spirit of young people.

This is the first time for a large-scale summit with the theme of patriotism education to be held in Hong Kong since its return to the motherland in 1997.

More than 200 participants discussed the strengthening of patriotic education for Hong Kong's young people and enhancing their national identity.

HKSAR chief executive Carrie Lam said at the summit that at all times and in all countries, it is natural to love one's own country while betraying one's country is regarded as a very serious crime.

In recent years Hong Kong has made national history a compulsory subject in junior secondary schools, and will replace Liberal Studies with Citizenship and Social Development, to strengthen the study of Chinese culture, the Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law, and cultivate patriotism of young people in Hong Kong, Lam said.

She urged the society to work together to nurture young people to contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and ensure Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability.

In his video speech, Vice Minister of Education Tian Xuejun said that to maintain Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability and ensure the steady and enduring development of "one country, two systems," it is necessary to unswervingly carry out patriotic education.

Tian said that the Ministry of Education will, as always, fully support the HKSAR in carrying out patriotic education, expand and deepen educational cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland, continue to support Hong Kong in participating in the development of national education, and help Hong Kong's young people to better achieve personal growth and success in the overall development of the country.

Tan Tieniu, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, said that Hong Kong should confidently, comprehensively and systematically promote patriotism education. In this process, the HKSAR government should play a leading role and join hands with educators to nurture generations of builders and successors of the cause of "one country, two systems" that possess a sense of national identity, an affection for Hong Kong and international vision.

The summit was jointly organized by the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, the Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group and the Bauhinia Magazine, with the support of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office of the Ministry of Education and the Education Bureau of the HKSAR government.