美国国家公共电台 NPR Worries Grow In Hong Kong As China Pushes Its Official Version Of History In Schools

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

History is written by the winners. So when power is shared, there's often a tug¹ of war over the past. That's what's happening in Hong Kong, which has enjoyed a degree of political autonomy since Great Britain returned control of that city to China 20 years ago. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports on the push to teach the Communist Party's version of history in schools.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE²: The last time China pressured Hong Kong to scrap³ its curriculum in favor of one developed by China's Communist Party-led government, this happened.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Shouting in foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting in foreign language).

SCHMITZ: In the summer of 2012, tens of thousands marched through the city chanting down with national education. After protesters besieged⁴ government headquarters for 10 days, officials backed down.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Shouting in foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting in foreign language).

SCHMITZ: But now the government is back with a plan to revamp how history is taught in Hong Kong's secondary schools. History teacher Cheung Siu-Chung says he's worried about the changes. The new curriculum is missing key parts of modern Chinese history, like Hong Kong's 1967 riots between communists and British rulers and the Tiananmen Square massacre⁵ of 1989 when Chinese troops killed hundreds of unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing.

CHEUNG SIU-CHUNG: (Through interpreter) These are crucial parts of history being taken out. Teachers are asking what the rationale is behind this, and our own deputy secretary of education said these parts of history are trivial, so we don't need to teach them. She literally⁶ said that.

SCHMITZ: The new proposed history curriculum would go into effect in two years. It would require schools to spend more time teaching students about China's modern history from the communist revolution in 1949 through its transformation⁷ to an authoritarian⁸ capitalist powerhouse today. The curriculum carefully removes or skims over events deemed sensitive by China's Communist Party, like Mao's failed political campaigns that left tens of millions dead, as well as uprisings like Tiananmen, leaving it to teachers to decide whether they'll have the time to teach these events. Hong Kong legislator Alvin Yeung is afraid teachers won't.

ALVIN YEUNG NGOK KIU: I don't mind students being taught the developments and constructions and the achievements modern China has achieved. It's fine. Economically, they have done a great job, but on the other hand, I expect the students to be taught on what happened in the Cultural Revolution and also Tiananmen Square in 1989.

SCHMITZ: Fellow Hong Kong legislator Tanya Chan says the struggle over education in Hong Kong is the latest battle with China over how the city is governed.

TANYA CHAN: These kind of confrontation⁹ will get worse and worse. But of course, at the same time, if we feel more and more vulnerable, than the control from the Chinese government over us will become stronger and stronger.

SCHMITZ: On a weekday afternoon in the Hong Kong neighborhood of Mong Kok, uniformed students stream out of schools for a half hour of freedom before heading to nighttime cram¹⁰ schools. Timothy Ng is among them. The 17-year-old says history is one of his least favorite classes - too much focus on regurgitation of facts. He says he learned more about China in literature class when he read George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984."

TIMOTHY NG: So basically it's a very good reflection of the modern society we are having today, especially in the Chinese context.

SCHMITZ: Fellow student Matthew Chu says he and his class were on the verge¹¹ of a history lesson last year when fellow students began handing out pamphlets.

MATTHEW CHU: They gave some information about Hong Kong should be separated from China in front of our school and give to our students. And then the teacher called them to go into a room and then talk.

SCHMITZ: When they came out of the room, the students had been disciplined. And that, says Chu, was the last he and his classmates heard about Hong Kong independence at school. He says it was one of the best history lessons he's had. Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Hong Kong.

(SOUNDBITE OF KIASMOS' "LIT")

1 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

4 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

5 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

8 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

9 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

10 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。