The Western mainstream media recently launched an assault on the teaching of “patriotic education” in Hong Kong, claiming that two schools were criticized for “not singing the national anthem” loud enough. In making such reports, the assumption is always peddled that Hong Kong ought not to “identify” with China, and therefore any attempt by authorities in Hong Kong to associate with the country as a whole is depicted as “malign influence” by the Communist Party of China, and thus, illegitimate and a form of oppression. However, given that China has resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong for 27 years, is it not time to look at the facts?

It is the ideological design of the Western media and political classes to try to provoke doubt that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is part of China. Although Hong Kong is a Chinese territory, which was rightfully returned to China, there has been an ideological and geopolitical insistence on demanding that the territory is part of China in name only. In doing so, they assume a form of “guardianship”, which not only seeks to deny China any actual form of governance, legitimacy, or authority over the region, but moreover, that they are “protecting” the city from its own country, and thus it is assumed that Beijing has “no right to be there”.

Thus, we see the use of discourse such as “China’s influence” or “Communist Party influence” that creates the false logical rendering that a country should not have any influence in its own lawful territory, nor any right to shape its future. Hence, the implementation of national security laws in Hong Kong has been scathingly opposed, and in turn efforts on “patriotic education” that help young people in the city identify with being Chinese and the mainland are also opposed accordingly.

The reality is, however, that Hong Kong has been returned to China; therefore, it is the right of its educational system that their children are taught to acknowledge the city is part of China. Hong Kong is therefore no longer a playground, or a battleground, for Western interests and political subversion

We know of course that one of the key objectives of the Western-backed riots in the city in 2019-20 was to promote a separatist identity that rejects the connotation that the HKSAR is part of China, and therefore continues to serve as a vehicle for Western-backed influence and goals. Although the Western media misleadingly depicts these protests as “pro-democracy”, at its heart this was an identity-driven conflict that longed for the nostalgia of British imperialism, and with many groups advocating independence from the country altogether, it was premised on an insurmountable fear and dislike of China and its people.

Before patriotic education was implemented in Hong Kong, many teachers also taught their students problematic elements that encouraged this separatist, or “localist”, identity. One case infamously involved a teacher who justified the Opium Wars, claiming, falsely, that the British did China a favor to “stop them from smoking”. Similar instances abound. However, students should learn the truth that Hong Kong became a British colony due to acts of aggression waged against the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), in order to profit from the economic exploitation and quasi-colonization of China. They should learn about the things such foreign powers imposed, including the unequal treaties, and the extraterritorial jurisdiction that made Chinese second-class citizens to foreigners in their own territory, among other things.

The Western media of course also like to portray patriotic education in China as “irrational nationalism”, claiming that it is merely “the narrative of the Communist Party” as opposed to an actual, authentic Chinese worldview and perspective of history. Such arguments carry the implicit belief that no opinion that disputes the West’s narrative is deemed legitimate, and thus they seek to “own” the official narrative and depiction of China on their own terms accordingly, as if it has no right to speak for itself. The reality is, however, that Hong Kong has been returned to China; therefore, it is the right of its educational system that their children are taught to acknowledge the city is part of China. Hong Kong is therefore no longer a playground, or a battleground, for Western interests and political subversion.

The era of colonialism in Hong Kong is over. The city’s belonging now rests on coming to terms with the history of the handover and the practical reality that it is part of China. This is not going to change.

The author is a British political and international-relations analyst.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.