Lets sing to the glory of the fatherland

last updated 8 January 2015

China

Sylvia Hui

Beijing thinks Hong Kongers are insufficiently patriotic, said Sylvia Hui in the Hong Kong Standard. Eight years after the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule, Hong Kong is still clinging to its own, separate identity. So the central government has launched a propaganda campaign to promote nationalism—starting by teaching us the national anthem, “The March of the Volunteers.” A one-minute commercial called “Our Home, Our Country” will be shown twice a day, before the major news broadcasts on both Chinese-language TV stations. Different versions will feature various prominent Hong Kongers, such as film star Jackie Chan, talking about patriotism and pride. And then the anthem will play, with the lyrics subtitled on the screen so people at home can follow along: “From everyone’s oppression shall come our final roar / Arise! Arise! Arise! We are many, but our hearts beat as one! / Selflessly braving the enemy’s gunfire, march on!” If such lyrics don’t inspire today’s youth, maybe “the star power of Chan” will.