LCSD Disqualifies Winning Poetry Collections and Adds National Security Clauses to HK Writing Competitions

The Hong Kong Public Libraries have added a "national security" clause to the poetry writing competition, reminding contestants that entries must not violate the National Security Law or be "detrimental to national security." (Screenshot of LCSD Public Library website with the related terms of the competition via the Epoch Times)

A Hong Kong public library has added a “national security” clause to a poetry writing competition, reminding contestants that entries must not violate the National Security Law or be “detrimental to national security.”

After the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) was found to have “DQ (disqualified)” three winning entries in the ”Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature,“ it was revealed recently that the public library had added a ”national security“ compliance clause to two competitions for the first time. As part of the requirement for articles joining the competition, the entries must not violate the ”National Security Law“ or be ”detrimental to national security.“ Some educators believe that the LCSD wants to draw a line with the contestants and put all legal responsibilities for ”national security“ onto the latter. Some former district councillors criticized that the addition of such a clause violates UNESCO’s “Public Library Manifesto,” which states that “the public library, and its collections and services, is free from any form of ideological, political or religious censorship.”

According to the LCSD website, the “Chinese Poetry Writing Competition“ has been held by public libraries since 1991. This is the 32nd edition, and the award ceremony was held on Sept. 29 this year (2022). The competition is divided into ”Student (Secondary 4 to undergraduates)” and “Open” groups. The purpose of the competition is to “help members of the public improve their proficiency in Chinese and enhance their ability to appreciate Chinese prosodic writings.”

An Epoch Times reporter checked the “Details, Terms and Conditions” of 2022’s competition and found that item (5) mentioned that the contestants must ensure that their entries do not violate or contravene any laws implemented in Hong Kong (including but not limited to the National Security Law) or are not detrimental to national security. The Organizer may disqualify an entry if it has reasonable grounds to believe that the entry may violate or contravene any law implemented in Hong Kong (including but not limited to the National Security Law) or may be detrimental to national security.

Clause (6) also states that if the entry violates or contravenes any laws implemented in Hong Kong (including but not limited to the National Security Law), the contestant shall bear all legal responsibility and shall indemnify the Hong Kong government and its authorized users any charges, claims, expenses of any nature (including but not limited to legal costs), losses, damages, and liabilities suffered or incurred as a result of its breach.

In addition, all entrants must sign an entry form stating that they “fully understand and agree to abide by the contents of the competition details, terms and conditions.”

An Epoch Times reporter checked the similar “Competition Details, Terms and Conditions” of the last (31st) “Chinese Poetry Writing Competition” but was unable to find any mention of the National Security Law or national security at all.

Primary School Competition Also Includes ‘National Security’ Clause

On the other hand, the public library is promoting the 2023 “4.23 World Book Day Creative Competition.” The year’s theme is “Tasty Reading,” for participants from primary 1 to 6, they should be recommended by their respective schools. The deadline for essay submission is Jan. 5, 2023. According to the LCSD, the idea of this activity is to integrate reading and creation, and it aims to encourage children and young people to broaden their preferred reading fields, deepen their scope of reading, and thereby widen their horizons.

The theme of “Junior Primary (P1-P3)” is “Food Story,” which is a fun way to introduce one’s favourite food or the pleasant experience of dining with relatives and friends through crayon drawing. For the “Senior Primary (P4-P6), the theme is “Treasuring Food and Life.” Participants are required to write a book report on their own topic. In the “Junior Secondary (S1-S3)” group, the theme is “My Cooking Experience,” in which each participant has to borrow a cookery book from the public library, cook the food or a dish according to one of the recipes in the book, and then write an essay. The theme of “Senior Secondary (S4-S6)” is “Memories of Food and Drink,” in which each participant is asked to integrate more than one non-recipe food articles that were read to share their reading response and insights in prose form.

An Epoch Times reporter again checked the “Competition Details, Terms and Conditions” of the 2023 “4.23 World Book Day Creative Competition” and found similar provisos that if the organizer has reasonable grounds to believe that the entries of the contestants may constitute crimes endangering national security or are not conducive to national security, they can be disqualified from participating in the competition, and have their prize renounced. In all such cases, the entrants have to bear all legal responsibility for their violations.

The reporter checked the “Competition Details, Terms and Conditions” of the last “4.23 World Book Day Creation Competition” and found that it did not mention the “National Security Law” or national security at all.

In response to an inquiry from Hong Kong media outlet Ming Pao, the LCSD claimed that public libraries have always ensured all their collections and activities comply with Hong Kong laws but fell short of saying who would judge whether a work violates the National Security Law or whether there is an appeal mechanism.

Scholar: LCSD Draws a Line Between Itself and Contestants

Hans Yeung Wing-yu, former manager of the Assessment Development (History) Department of the HK Examinations & Assessment Authority (HKEAA), pointed out in an interview with The Epoch Times that the purpose of the LCSD’s revision of the terms was obviously for self-protection and to draw a clear line between itself and the contestants. The most important amendment is “the organizer will not bear any legal responsibility for entries that violate the terms and conditions of the competition.” After the passage of the NSL, all forms of written works have potential “national security” risks, so the organizer declares that it does not bear any legal responsibility, and all “national security” legal responsibilities rest on the contestants.

Yeung mentioned that the current environment is that the National Security Law regards safeguarding national sovereignty as the prime obligation of all Hong Kong residents. For instance, the 20-page report “Promotion of National and National Security Education,” issued on Aug. 25 this year by the Legco Panel on Education, has its scope covering all school administration, sponsoring bodies, director training, accountability mechanism, teacher training, pre-employment training, professional exchanges, teaching resources, exchanges in mainland China, and the like. National security education is becoming prevalent and overwhelming. Under such circumstances, it is of no surprise all these competitions in Hong Kong will include the “national security” clause. It is just a matter of time.

He also observed that teachers and students are now getting increasingly familiar with the so-called “red-line thinking.” Everyone in the classroom is quite “well adapted” and knows what to do when facing sensitive issues. Therefore, the inclusion of national security clauses in open competitions does not affect the “classroom stage” nor its daily operation at all.

Former District Councillor: An Obvious Violation of UNESCO’s ‘Public Library Manifesto’

Ben Lam Siu-pan, a former Yau Tsim Mong District councilor who once moved a motion to discuss the issue of library book bans, said in an interview with The Epoch Times that the LCSD had become a political tool since the NSL came into effect in July 2020. At that time, public libraries were the first to remove a total of nine books by Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Tanya Chan, and Chin Wan (pen name), claiming it needed to “review” whether those books violated the “National Security Law,” and then continued to remove various so-called “sensitive books” from the shelves.

Regarding the recent events, Lam pointed out that the Hong Kong public libraries have violated UNESCO’s “Public Library Manifesto.” And ironically, the official website of public libraries still publishes its belief in it: “Public libraries are a powerful tool for education, dissemination of culture and information, and also an important tool for instilling the idea of ​​peace and enriching the spiritual life in the citizens’ mind.” Looking at other paragraphs of the Manifesto, it also mentions that ”collections and services are not subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, nor are they subject to commercial pressures.”

Disqualification of Three Winning Poetry Collections from ‘Biennial Poetry Writing Competition’

The recently announced public library “16th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature” only included the “Prose Section,” “Fiction Section,” “Literary Critic Section,” and “Children’s and Juvenile Literature Section.” The biennial award for the modern poetry group and the recommendation award is missing. However, the LCSD did not offer any explanation for it.

Ming Pao quoted sources as saying that Chow Hon-fai’s “Light Hidden in the Dust,“ Chan Li-choi’s ”Thick Fog and Dark Light,“ and Tsang Wing-chung’s ”Abstinence and Fellow Practitioners“ were all recommended by the judges for the ”New Poetry Group’s“ Biennial Award, the Recommendation Award, and the Alternate Winner Award, respectively, but were eventually disqualified by the LCSD. ”Light Hidden in Dust“ and ”Thick Fog and Dark Light“ were accused of being related to the Umbrella Movement and demonstrations, while ”Abstinence and Fellow Practitioners” was accused of being related to Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

In December 2021, Wen Wei Po, the mouthpiece of the CCP, reported that “Light Hidden in the Dust,” “Thick Fog and Dark Light,” and “ Abstinence and Fellow Practitioners” were all removed from the shelves of public libraries. The LCSD responded at the time that it would take a serious approach when it found any collection that might be suspected of violating National Security Law. Once found, it will suspend it and consult with the relevant departments on whether it violates the law. The reporter tried to search for the relevant publications in the public library catalogue today, and the results showed “no matching search results”