Japanese Universities Use Liu Xiaobo’s "Charter 08" as Chinese Teaching Material

In 2019, the Education Bureau of Hong Kong initiated a “professional consultancy service” for senior secondary curriculum Liberal Studies text books. The public raised doubts that the books were actually handed over for censorship. Recently, six publishers has published revised textbooks, in which components pertaining to political contents such as the 1989 June 4th Tiananmen incident were “river crabbed” (a euphemism for censorship in China).

On the other hand, Japanese universities have been adopting Liu Xiaobo’s written work "Charter 08" as a Chinese teaching material.

Nishinippon Shimbun reported that some universities in Japan have been using Charter 08, written by the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, as a Chinese teaching material. The teaching material, entitled Learning Quality Chinese through Charter 08, was published by a Japanese publisher last year on the 30th Anniversary of June 4th Tiananmen incident. The publication makes use of the full text of Charter 08 and includes a Japanese translation, grammar explanations, exercises and a brief description of the history of social movements in China.

Ken Suzuki, professor of law at Meiji University, has been using the book to teach since fall last year. He said, “Through studying constitutional law, students can learn standard Chinese syntax. Charter 08 is a critique on the present state of China, so it gives students an idea of China’s current condition too.” The report added that besides Meiji University, many universities in Kansai also used this book as a teaching material for Chinese language this year. Some of these universities initially planned to use books published in China, but changed to Charter 08 when the books could not be posted to Japan due to the epidemic.

Source: Stand News #Aug20

#Charter08 #LiuXiaobo #Meijiuniversity #Japan
#LiberalStudies #Textbook

Textbook used in Victorian schools repeats Chinese government propaganda

Among the concerns regarding the textbook is the inclusion of the “nine-dash line” map which shows China claiming most of the South China Sea – a position contested by Australia and numerous othrr countries in the region and challenged by an international tribunal. It is labelled in the book as the “map of China”.

The publishers said that its inclusion was a production error.

On top of this misleading information, the textbook also included portions that repeated Chinese Communist party propaganda.

#SouthChinaSea #Australia #Textbook #NineDashLine #ChinaPropaganda

Source: Guardian #Aug25

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/26/textbook-used-in-victorian-schools-repeats-chinese-government-propaganda

#Education #StateIdeology
Religious Textbooks in Hong Kong Demand Students for Patriotism: "God Loves Me as a Chinese"

The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong run 17 kindergartens, 56 primary schools and 27 secondary schools in Hong Kong.

The teaching materials, “Starlight Series”, used by these kindergartens and primary schools sparked controversies.

In these textbooks, the lesson of nationality comes earlier than knowledge about the church, the religious teaching and the meaning of Christmas.

See images:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/25506

For example, the first chapter of the textbook for upper kindergarten is called “God loves Chinese”. The content emphasises Chinese nationality.

In the notes to parents, the teaching material encourages parents to let their children learn more Chinese culture. The message aims to reinforce the sense of belonging among young children and their identification with Chinese through God.

Besides emphasising the Chinese identity, the textbook claims that God gave humankind Chinese culture, and calls for patriotism to thank God. Students are taught to uphold "harmony".

Prayers in the textbook, moreover, express graditude to God for letting the readers be born as Chinese and the love to the people and the nation.

A theology researcher stated that God hasn’t expressed any preferences and love to any countries and didn’t recommend Catholic Dioceses to get too close to the regime.

Source: Stand News #Sept14
https://bit.ly/3ivR3eK

#StarlightSeries #TextBook
#BrainWashing #CatholicDioceses #Religion #Nationalization

"Amendment Bill Crisis" Involved Terrorist Acts, Says New Hong Kong Textbooks

June 2022 marks the third anniversary of the beginning of the 2019 protests against the Extradition Law Amendment Bill (ELAB). In Hong Kong, since the 2021/2022 school year, Liberal Studies has been replaced by the subject Citizenship and Social Development.

It was found out that the secondary school textbooks of Citizenship and Social Development has omitted many important social events, including the protest and police-civilian clashes that took place on June 12, 2019.

Ming Pao reviewed four newly released textbooks from three publishers, and found that they mentioned these protests as background information for the enactment of the #NationalSecurityLaw. The textbooks only said that "severe, violent incidents" took place in 2019, and asserted that the "amendment bill crisis" involved "violent acts of terrorism involving various illegal acts".

Two textbooks further alleged that "the Central Government considered it involved interference by foreign forces", that opposition forces and organizations inciting Hong Kong independence invited foreign interference, and so on.

Leo Chu, Democratic Party spokesperson on education policies, commented that these descriptions ignored the deeper causes that triggered the widespread protests at the time.

All four textbooks extolled the importance and purpose of the National Security Law, and claimed that it ensures that "One Country, Two Systems" is implemented, protects human rights, and ensures Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. Other social issues and controversies were not mentioned.

Source: Ming Pao #Jun13
https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e6%b8%af%e8%81%9e/article/20220613/s00002/1655058002382/

#Education #Textbook #Brainwashing #AntiELAB #HongKongProtests