'HK students must learn about national security law'

Hong Kong students must learn about the proposed national security law to be passed by China that would require new institutions to safeguard sovereignty and allow for mainland agencies to operate when needed, as if it was a "part of their lives", Education Minister Kevin Yeung said on Saturday.

Speaking on a radio programme, Yeung suggested that once the law was enacted in Hong Kong, national security would be a topic that everyone should understand and learn, reports the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper.

"It has nothing to do with politics," Yeung said.

"It becomes part of our lives once the national law applies in Hong Kong, and if our students have to live and grow in the city, and develop their career in the mainland, (the law) is something they should understand."

On Friday, China announced a national security law for Hong Kong, to "prevent, stop and punish" secession, subversion, foreign interference and terrorism.

It also said that Hong Kong must introduce national security education.

Yeung said programmes on the law would be added to the school curriculum, in the manner that schools have been teaching constitutional law and the Basic Law.

He said forums would also be arranged to enhance public understanding of the law.

Saturday's development comes after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam welcomed the law, while assuring residents and investors that the law would protect, rather than hurt, their rights, said the SCMP report.

She maintained that it would not undermine the governing principle of "one country, two systems" for Hong Kong, its high degree of autonomy or the cherished principle of "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong".

Hong Kong's opposition camp denounced the move, calling it a violation of "one country, two systems".

The city also braced for more protests as activists began airdropping pamphlets on residents' mobile phones about planned demonstrations over the weekend.

( With inputs from IANS )