Officials In Hong Kong Have Forced Schools To Remove Any Books That Are Considered Breaching China s Controversial And Sweeping National Security Law
Officials in Hong Kong have forced schools to remove any books that are considered breaching China's controversial and sweeping national security law.
Hong Kong schools should not provide reading material breaching the new legislation unless they use it to 'positively teach' students about the issue, the city's Education Bureau said on Monday.
It comes after a pro-democracy protester in [/news/hong-kong/index.html Hong Kong] has appeared in court today for the first time after becoming the first citizen in the city to face punishment under Beijing's national security law.
Officials in Hong Kong have forced schools to remove any books that are considered breaching China's controversial and sweeping national security law.
The file picture taken on May 27 shows students walking at Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School in Hong Kong
Tong Ying-kit, 23, is charged with inciting secession and engaging in terrorism against China's controversial legislation for carrying a 'Liberate Hong Kong' sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest Wednesday.
He is pictured appearing at a local court in Hong Kong Monday
The legislation imposed by Beijing came into force last week and it punishes what China defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with up to life in prison.
Critics see it as a tool to quash dissent.
Hong Kong and Beijing officials insist the city's freedoms remain intact and the law only plugs national security 'loopholes'.
Despite such assurances, public libraries have taken some books written by some pro-democracy activists and politicians off their shelves while they check if they violate the law.
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The Education Bureau, in a statement sent to Reuters, said schools were the gatekeepers for their teaching resources and school management and teachers should review 'all teaching materials, including books'.
'As with other serious crimes or immoral behaviour that is not socially acceptable, materials should be removed and re-selected,' the bureau said, adding that such materials could only be used 'for positively teaching' about national security.
Books by young activist Joshua Wong and pro-democracy politician Tanya Chan have suddenly become unavailable in public libraries.
The officials said schools were the gatekeepers for their teaching resources and school management and teachers should review 'all teaching materials, including books'.
The picture shows school students at a pro-democracy protests near their school in Hong Kong on June 12
Albert Wan, co-owner of Bleak House Books shop, said the law had a 'chilling effect'.
'The law is so vague and so new that no one really knows where the red line is.
Until we know, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing,' Wan said.
'The biggest challenge is to try as hard as you can to not self-censor kinh nghiệm đi cửu trại câu because once you do it, you open up a can of worms, just like once you enact the national security law, there's no going back.'
A Reuters visit to one public library showed books discussing Hong Kong independence, which is anathema to Beijing, were still available.
A separate online search showed books by Chinese Nobel Peace Prize-winning political dissident Liu Xiaobo could also be borrowed.
'It's very arbitrary,' said Fu King-wa, associate professor at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at University of Hong Kong, who studies Chinese social media and information control.
Fu said the public should not expect clear criteria or justification for censorship, which he said would likely extend into the digital sector.
'Some form of the censorship system in China now will be introduced to Hong Kong.
It´s a matter of time,' Fu said.
Mr Tong has been remanded in custody after the court denied his bail application because the judge has sufficient grounds to believe the defendant will continue to endanger national security, according to the authorities.
Reporters are pictured gathering outside the court
A pro-democracy protester in Hong Kong has appeared in court for the first time after he became the first citizen in the city to face punishment under Beijing-imposed national security law.
Pictured, the 23-year-old pro-democracy protester, Tong Ying-kit carrying a 'Liberate Hong Kong' sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at an anti-government protest on July 1
It comes after Tong Ying-kit, 23, a pro-democracy protester in [/news/hong-kong/index.html Hong Kong] has appeared in court today for the first time after being charged against [/news/china/index.html China]'s controversial legislation.
Mr Tong has been remanded in custody after the court denied his bail application as the judge has sufficient grounds to believe the defendant will continue to endanger national security, according to the authorities.
Mr Tong, who carried a flag that read 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times' as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against the territory's Chinese rulers, became the first person charged with inciting separatism and terrorism under the new security law last Friday.
The 23-year-old activist made his first appearance in West Kowloon Court on Monday afternoon after being hospitalised due to a fractured leg kept since the July 1 protest, where he is accused of violating the new legislation.
Mr Tong, who carried a 'Liberate Hong Kong' sign as he drove a motorcycle into police at a protest against the territory's Chinese rulers, became on Frida the first person charged with inciting separatism and terrorism under the new security law.
He is pictured on Monday
An armed police officer (L) escorts a van (behind) transporting Tong Ying-kit (not pictured) who is accused of deliberately driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers on July 1
Mr Tong is accused of ramming and injuring some officers at an illegal protest on Wednesday, according to police.
Police officers are pictured maintaining orders as a 23-year-old man, Tong Ying-kit, arrives at a court in Hong Kong Monday, July 6 after he was charged against the law
Mr Tong is accused of ramming and injuring some officers at an illegal protest on Wednesday, according to police.
A video circulating online shows a motorbike knocking over several officers on a narrow street before the driver falls over and is arrested.
But he has been remanded in custody after the court rejected his bail application. The trial is adjourned till October 6.
In rejecting bail, Chief Magistrate So Wai-tak referred to Article 42 of the new law, which states that bail will not be granted if the judge has sufficient grounds to believe the defendant will continue to endanger national security.
Police stand guard as defendant Tong Ying-kit, 23, arrives the court on July 6 - Tong accused of deliberately driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers, is the first person charged for incitement to secession and terrorist activities under the national security law
The top American diplomat in Hong Kong has described the use of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's new national security law to curb freedoms as a 'tragedy'.
Police officers detain protesters during a rally against a new national security law on July 1 in Hong Kong
The top American diplomat in Hong Kong has described the use of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory's new national security law to curb freedoms as a 'tragedy'.
Hanscom Smith, the US consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, told reporters: 'Using the national security law to erode fundamental freedoms and to create an atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship is a tragedy for Hong Kong.
'Hong Kong has been successful precisely because of its openness and we'll do everything we can to maintain that.'
The law, imposed last week following anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year, makes secessionist, subversive, or terrorist activities illegal, as well as foreign intervention in the city's internal affairs.
Any person taking part in activities such as shouting slogans or holding up banners and flags calling for the city's independence is violating the law, regardless of whether violence is used.
Critics see the move as Beijing's boldest step yet to erase the legal firewall between the former British colony and the mainland's authoritarian Communist Party system.
Since the law came into effect, the government has also specified that the popular protest slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time' has separatist connotations and is thus criminalised.
Police detain a protester after spraying pepper spray during a protest on July 1
Since the law came into effect, the government has also specified that the popular protest slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time' has separatist connotations and is thus criminalised.
In Hong Kong's public libraries, books by pro-democracy figures have been pulled from the shelves, including those authored by prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong and politician Tanya Chan.
The authority in charge of libraries said it is reviewing the books in light of the new legislation.
Many pro-democracy shops that publicly stood in solidarity with protesters have removed pro-democracy sticky notes and artwork that adorned the walls of their stores, fearful that the content might violate the new law.
More than 300 people were arrested on July 1 for offences including unlawful assemblies, disorderly conduct in public places, furious driving, and breach of then national security law, the police said.
In a further ominous sign for activists, a Communist Party cadre prominent during a 2011 clampdown on land rights protesters in a south China village is to head a newly-empowered national security office in Hong Kong, kynghidongduong.vn official news agency Xinhua said.
Zheng Yanxiong, 57, most recently served as secretary general of the Communist Party committee of Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong.
A Hong Kong riot police was stabbed on the left shoulder by a protester while trying to tackle another demonstrator during a rally against a new national security law on Wednesday
The new legislation gives the security office greater enforcement action and powers to take suspects onto the mainland, as well as granting privileges for agents, including that Hong Kong authorities cannot inspect their vehicles.
Some activists have been keeping a low profile or leaving.
Demosisto, a pro-democracy group led by Joshua Wong, disbanded hours after the legislation was passed, while prominent group member Nathan Law left the city.
'The protests in Hong Kong have been a window for the world to recognise that China is getting more and more authoritarian,' Law told Reuters.
Hong Kong's publicly-funded public broadcaster RTHK, which has felt the pressure of government scrutiny, appeared to take heed of the law, reproducing the slogan as 'L*******#HongKong' in a comment on Twitter, to the scorn of some social media users.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-0e79b860-bf6d-11ea-8b86-1379be16155f" website Kong demands schools remove books violating China's security law
