The Backdrop: The 2019/20 Mass Protests

In 2019, a proposed extradition bill, which would allow suspects to be sent to the Chinese mainland to face trial, incited some of the largest protests Hong Kong has ever seen. In June 2020, officials in Beijing and Hong Kong responded with the highly contentious National Security Law, which explicitly criminalised secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces. To pro-Chinese voices, this was a necessary move to protect the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. To the pro-democracy movement and liberal foreign powers, it was a complete dismissal of the “One Country, Two Systems” agreement and its protection of civil liberties. As the main participants in the 2019/2020 protests, students and young people, together with teachers, who have long been involved in resistance protests, pose a significant political threat to the Chinese authorities. As a result, targeting the education system is a central part of Hong Kong’s National Security Law (NSL).

National Education policy

In a strategy that echoes CCP practice in Xinjiang, Article 10 of the NSL requires the promotion of ‘national security education’ in schools and universities across Hong Kong. A series of curriculum changes seek to promote national unity and to cultivate Xi Jinping’s notion of what constitutes a distinct Chinese identity. In secondary schools, the long contended Liberal Studies course, once described by the People’s Daily (the official newspaper of the CCP) as ”polluting’ students” minds with poison”, has been axed. The shelves of school libraries have been cleared of anti-authoritarian books, including classics such as George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984. At universities, mandatory national security courses have been introduced and statues deemed to be seditious, for example, the Goddess of Democracy on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), have been removed. By September 2025, all primary schools in Hong Kong are required to implement a new humanities curriculum, which seeks to foster the CCP’s sense of national identity in children from an early age.

The Impact of the NSL on Scholars and Teachers

Since Beijing’s crackdown, human rights organisations argued that freedom of expression, as well as freedom of assembly and association have been “under assault” in Hong Kong’s educational institutions. A further signal of the NSL’s effect on the education sector was the disbandment in August 2021 of the Professional Teachers Union, without which protection of teacher’s rights has all but disappeared. In July 2020, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) fired pro-democracy professor Benny Tai. Just a few months later, the first primary school teacher was sacked post-NSL after asking students questions about Hong Kong independence. Across the city, the threat of surveillance looms large. Lingnan University now requires that lectures be recorded and teachers fear being reported by pro-Beijing parents or students after reviewing the material. Several teachers felt forced to self-censor or, as the 70% increase in the number of teachers who have left their profession shows, many have felt the need to leave altogether. 

Curtailing Student Activism

During and after the 2019/2020 protests, calls for the police to suppress freedom of speech have made classrooms dangerous places for student activists. Like faculty members, some students now say they feel forced to self-censor and fear surveillance measures, feeling especially vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic when online classrooms meant they were unsure who was listening in to their conversations. Also, student unions, once the ”forefront of Hong Kong’s vibrant civil society”, have been cut off from university administrations entirely. Their funding has been withdrawn and their representation on university committees revoked. After CUHK became the first university to do this, the People’s Daily described the HKU student union as a “malignant tumour that needs to be removed.” Aware of the threat of youth discontent, in December 2022, the CCP launched its Development Blueprint for Youth which argues that a fulfilling life will be found in the transformation of the self rather than in societal or political reform.

Everyday Resistance

Despite the changes to academic freedom after the implementation of the NSL, some scholars argue that students and teachers are quietly resisting control. James Scott’s concept may help here, which refers to “everyday resistance” in which citizens in authoritarian societies resort to covert methods to express their discontent towards the government. To do this, educators use seemingly non-political issues to train students in civil society competence, use metaphors, prayers and jokes to convey their hidden opinions and allow students to engage in resistance.

Repression Not Yet Fully Institutionalised?

HKU Prof. Hualing Fu argues that this defence of academic freedom is still possible since the NSL is not institutionalised enough to change the university governance structure in Hong Kong. He shows that the level of censorship in Hong Kong universities is much lower than in the mainland and argues that, to a certain degree, constitutional autonomy from the CCP still exists in Hong Kong. Students also continue to resist by using digital space, for example, producing zines to continue the circulation of democratic education and counter what they see as authoritarian disinformation.

International Response and The Future of Education in Hong Kong

Western nations have condemned the introduction of the NSL as a breach of the 1984 China/Britain agreement which protects the autonomy of Hong Kong until 2047. In response to Article 38 of the NSL, which makes the law applicable to those residing outside the territory, universities abroad are attempting to protect students from self-incrimination. For example, courses on China have been given disclaimer warnings and several universities with such courses, e.g. the University of Oxford, have implemented an anonymous grading policy. Furthermore, the UK grants asylum to some Hong Kong residents via the British National Overseas (BNO) visa scheme and continues to support pro-democracy forces. However, British influence in Hong Kong is limited and, whilst the UK government seems to want to uphold its commitment to human rights in the context of developments in Hong Kong, it competes with calls for increased re-engagement with China. Meanwhile, Beijing continues to tighten its grip on Hong Kong with the enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance or Article 23 in 2024, which critics say expands the NSL’s attack on civil liberties and its threat to academic freedom. This may be analysed in a future story.