Chinese ‘Patriotic’ Education Draws Protesters in Hong Kong

Tens of thousands of parents, students and social activists marched through Hong Kong yesterday to oppose plans for Chinese national education lessons in the city that detractors say will stifle independent thinking.

With many clad in black and white to symbolize the contrast between right and wrong, and carrying placards stating “We don’t need no thought control,” demonstrators protested government plans to introduce the subject in state-run primary schools in the city from September. The authorities intend to extend the classes, which aim to foster Chinese identity, to secondary schools from 2013 and phase in the lessons over three years.