Kacee Ting Wong

Opinion | Why national defence education would benefit Hong Kong

National defence education is being advanced in mainland China, and Hong Kong must keep up. It could also help toughen up the city’s teens

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Kacee Ting Wong

Published: 5:30am, 11 Sep 2024

Traditionally, military capability and war-readiness are the most important aspects of national security. In compliance with President Xi Jinping’s emphasis on a holistic approach towards national security, which he first unveiled in 2014, it is necessary to study and promote the concept. Nevertheless, military-centred national defence must not become a secondary concern.

The military plays an indispensable role in maintaining resource security, internet security, ecological security and other types of security. It is of fundamental importance that national defence education should also be promoted.

Our perception shapes our attitude. Because some Hongkongers view external security threats through the traditional lens of foreign invasion, they do not realise that the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong are subject to the wild swings of Sino-American relations. Exaggeration of China’s economic vulnerabilities by some Western media may indirectly destabilise the Hong Kong economy.

Nor do Hongkongers have a proper understanding of the threats posed by Western ideological infiltration and cognitive warfare. As a result, the importance of national security comes more easily to the lips of some young people than their hearts.

To prepare our young people for a protracted strategic and geopolitical competition between China and the United States, we must urgently promote the concept of holistic national security. In particular, it is necessary to emphasise national defence education in the city.

Although national security education will be implemented in Primary One and Four from 2025/26, the Education Bureau still has a long way to go in inculcating a national security-oriented mindset in school-age youth.