“One country, two values”: Mainland Chinese/Hong Kong international students’ perspectives on the Hong Kong protests in 2019

Some Hong Kong students who studied overseas organized rallies to support the protesters in Hong Kong during the 2019 Anti-Extradition Protests. In response and in opposition to the actions of the Hong Kong students, some mainland Chinese students also went to the streets, which they saw as an act of nationalism. This disagreement in opinions can be traced to the fact that China has strongly emphasized national education while Hong Kong has had very little national education in the years before 2019. This study investigates the interview responses of students from both sides in New Zealand as a case study. The results suggest that Hong Kong and mainland China’s national education systems have ingrained separate sets of values about their respective regions. While some mainland students believed that they were beneficiaries of their country’s progress and felt a sense of national pride, some Hong Kong students harbored anti-China sentiments. The investigation reveals a prevailing hostility between the opposing factions, with the influence of mainland propaganda during the protests further exacerbating their divide. This research contributes to the study of how earlier schooling influences the shaping of national identity, as well as the exploration of the phenomenon commonly referred to as “angry youth”. Copyright © 2024 Education Research Institute, Seoul National University.