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Debate over

Debating Politics

Schools pull out of a debate contest after a Chinese
state media has raised an outcry over debate motions

which they call “politically sensitive”

By Fiona Cheung & Gloria Wei

wenty-six schools, about one-fifth of the partici-
pating teams, withdrew from the Hong Kong Sec-
Tondary School Debate Competition after debate
motions related to anti-Extradition Law Amendment
Bill (anti-ELAB) movement sparked controversy in late
December last year.
The action came after Ta Kung Pao, the state news- Raymond Chan
paper, criticised contest organiser of “brainwashing stu- Chi-chuen
dents” in a news article dated December 20, 2019, with
a title “Education fails, Interschool Debate Contest be-
comes a means of Brainwashing Students”. (教育病了 |
縱暴派辦學界賽 假辯論真洗腦)

Controversy over Debate Motions
“Not everything is suitable to be a
debate motion,” says Ho Hon-kuen, the
chairman of Education Convergence, a
pro-government organisation, when in-
terviewed by Ta Kung Pao in the news ar-
ticle. He thinks some of the motions have
wrong presumption which may radical-
ise students’ thoughts.
Debate motions like “Hongkongers
should fight for Hong Kong independ-
ence” and “Restructuring the police
force does more good than harm to Hong
Kong” are denounced by Hong Kong Fed-
eration of Education Workers (HKFEW),
An article in Ta Kung Pao accuses the debate contest is brainwashing a pro-Beijing teachers’ union, accusing
students. (Source: Ta Kung Pao)
the organiser of proposing inappropri-