One of the important messages of National Security Education Day (NSED) is the refreshing reminder that safeguarding national security not only requires the enactment of national security laws but also demands actively promoting national security education in the city. Turning a blind eye to the importance of national security education is tantamount to the negligent act of allowing one of the loopholes of national security to remain in the city. The educational foundation for safeguarding national security must be fully consolidated.
In the 2021 Policy Address, then-chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor emphasized that the secretary for education had requested that schools formulate and implement plans on national security education. The secretary for security, the six disciplined services and the two auxiliary services were committed to enhancing their work in helping young people develop positive thinking and law-abiding awareness.
Nevertheless, the importance of national security comes more easily to the lips of some young people than to their hearts. As Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung has pointed out, the overall law-abiding awareness of the community, especially among young people, is still weak. He also reminded us of the danger of “soft resistance” in the city. The saving grace is that law enforcement agencies have kept a watchful eye on this problem.
In his Policy Address last October, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also emphasized the need to uphold the overarching principle of safeguarding national security. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government would also promote Rule of Law Education in the city. With regard to nongovernment organizations, the International Probono Legal Services Association deserves credit for running national security courses for volunteers. These volunteers are responsible for promoting national security education in the city.
Although national security law is regarded as the be-all and end-all of efforts to safeguard national security, we still need a comprehensive educational program to fill out the remaining gaps in the national security ecosystem. Awareness of national security is important, national security law necessary, and education crucial
Hong Kong’s historic passing of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) on March 19 has brought a long and difficult chapter in the city’s recent checkered history to a conclusion. The SNSO and the National Security Law for Hong Kong, promulgated in June 2020, aim at ensuring the city’s legal framework meets modern national security challenges. Although national security law is regarded as the be-all and end-all of efforts to safeguard national security, we still need a comprehensive educational program to fill out the remaining gaps in the national security ecosystem. Awareness of national security is important, national security law necessary, and education crucial.
On July 1, 2015, the National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China was adopted at the 15th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress, and April 15 each year was designated the NSED. In Hong Kong, the NSED aims at raising public awareness of national security, creating a positive atmosphere of safeguarding national security, enhancing the capacity to fend off national security risks, deepening public understanding of the Constitution, the Basic Law and national security, and fostering a sense of national identity.
In March 2023, President Xi Jinping gave an important speech at the first session of the 14th National People’s Congress. He stressed the need to better coordinate development and security. According to Xi, “security is the foundation of development and stability is the prerequisite for prosperity. We must resolutely pursue a holistic approach to national security”. The importance of national security education was also emphasized by Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Xia Baolong on Monday. In his opening speech, he highlighted the connection between national security and family security.
The importance of national security education has not kicked up controversy in neighboring countries. For example, national education was initiated by the Ministry of Education in Singapore in 1996 to foster national cohesion and instill a sense of national identity among students and younger Singaporeans. It is worth noting that the educational programs stress the challenges and vulnerabilities that are unique to the city-state. Total Defense Day is held each year to remind pupils that Singapore can be defended and is worth defending (National Library Board website, Launch of National Education).
In Vietnam, national defense education is a noncredit compulsory course requirement of the higher education curriculum. National defense and security education in primary and lower secondary schools is integrated through the content of subjects in the program, combined with extra-curricular activities appropriate to the age group (LawNet website, How Do Schools and Education Institution in Vietnam Carry Out Defense and Security Education in Vietnam?, Nov 12, 2022). The Law on National Defense and Security Education was promulgated in Vietnam in June 2013.
The national security educational programs of Singapore and Vietnam have reinforced the argument that all the residents of the city must be alert to national security risks. Without adopting a holistic approach to national security, we will lose sight of the complex web of seemingly irrelevant issues that may pose latent threats to national security. Fresh in our minds is the effort of foreign agents to harm our country’s rice seed industry and jeopardize our food security.
The author is a barrister, part-time researcher of Shenzhen University Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law Research Center, chairman of Chinese Dream Think Tank, and a district councilor.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
