Ming (not his real name) is a 15-year-old growing up in Hong Kong. Like many radical protesters of his generation, he is either unable or unwilling to sing the Chinese national anthem. When asked by CGTN's Liu Xin if he saw himself as Chinese, Ming said he's "a Hong Konger from China."

During the 2019 Hong Kong unrest, some of Ming's generation desecrated Chinese national symbols and violently attacked Chinese central government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong.

To find out why youths such as Ming hold such strong views against their country, Liu Xin checked out history and liberal education textbooks used by Hong Kong middle schools.

She noticed that in many of the popular textbooks, China's development has largely been overlooked and in some cases even belittled. In one textbook, Chinese 15 years and older are said to have received only an average of eight years of schooling. That's 100 years behind the United States, according to the textbook.

However, the textbook failed to point out that when the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, 80 percent of the population was illiterate.

Another textbook outlining the 70 years since the founding of new China detailed one political campaign after another. Out of its 250 pages, only four pages were dedicated to China's achievements during its four decades of reform and opening up.

Heung To Secondary School principal Tang Fei said there was a lack of standardization in teaching Hong Kong students about China. "This has led to schools deciding what to teach on their own. So students' understanding of history and culture is fragmented and piecemeal," Tang said.

Tang added that questions in examination papers are also set in a manner which sensitizes students to the strident political issues of the day.

For example, a question in one of the past examination papers showed a cartoon of a protester being taken away by police. Students are asked to explain the "advantages" of the political demand that the protester is fighting for.

"So many teachers prefer opposition argument rather than the establishment argument. It is a political reality in Hong Kong. So, the opposition argument, especially the extreme argument, so-called 'justice by law-breaking' is transferred to every student," Tang said.

"Justice by law-breaking" was a concept raised by law scholar Benny Tai, a co-founder of the Occupy Central movement in 2014 which paralyzed parts of the city for 79 days.

Tai called on citizens to break the law in order to achieve "justice". In April 2019, he was convicted and sentenced for inciting public nuisance and inciting others to cause public nuisance. Tai is also an active contributor to educational materials used in the SAR.

To catch the full CGTN documentary Lost in Hong Kong – Liu Xin's Perspective, please click on the following link: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-03-28/Lost-in-Hong-Kong-Liu-Xin-s-Perspective-PdLsVpA4Sc/index.html