Over the past week, as the National People’s Congress of China deliberated and passed a decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), western media outlets have launched an onslaught against the proposed principle of “Patriots governing Hong Kong”.

Media outlets like the Washington Post, Reuters, France 24 and others have accused Beijing of using patriotism as a tool for stifling democracy in Hong Kong. Though not entirely surprising, one has to wonder, what is the rationale behind these attacks? Has China come up with a brand new political concept? Or is patriotism an inherent contradiction in a functioning democracy?

In countries and regions all over the world, government officials have been pledging allegiance for decades. Take the ‘Five Eyes’ Countries for example. In the United States, members of Congress have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance quite frequently. First, at their swearing-in ceremony after being elected, and then the pledge is repeated daily at the start of each congressional session. And this requirement extends to the general public as well. In many states in America, primary school students are required to pledge allegiance to the American Flag at the beginning of each school day.

The US has gone even further than requiring the pledge several times in history. During the Cold War, President Truman signed the “Loyalty Order” to establish a Loyalty Program, designed to “root out communist influence” in the US federal government, and ultimately investigated over 3 million government employees. More recently, in 2020, President Trump also launched a loyalty test within the White House. Political appointees across the Trump administration were subjected to interviews to gauge their support for the president.

In the other four of the ‘Five Eyes’ countries, all public officials are required to take an oath or affirmation of allegiance before taking office. As Queen Elizabeth the Second is still officially the head of state in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, these countries, along with the UK, require officials to swear an oath of true allegiance to the Queen, her heirs and successors, as well as allegiance to their respective countries.

So if the ‘Five Eyes’ countries, and many other countries in the world can make patriotism a requirement without compromising their democracy, why then, are western journalists criticizing China for implementing the same in Hong Kong?

Apart from the blatant double standards that they apply to everything Chinese, what they’re really implying, is that Hong Kong legislators shouldn’t have to pledge allegiance to China. What they’re really trying to advocate for, is separatism. The very thing that these changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system are aiming to prevent.

Producer：Zhao Yang, Zheng Youzhi

Script：Zhang Yin, Li Zhuo, Zou Feixu, Peng Yifei

Translator：Zou Feixu, Peng Yifei

Dubber：Zou Feixu

Video editor：Peng Yifei