HK army cadets association launched

On 17 January, 2015, a closed-door inauguration of the Hong Kong Army Cadets Association was held at the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval base. The association was founded by young people who had previously participated in a military summer camp, and had learnt marching skills which they wanted to impart to more young people so they could “get fit and strong”, according to Bunny Chan Chung-bun, chairman of the Association.

This summer camp was organized by the Education Bureau, the PLA and the Concerted Efforts Resource Center – whose founding president was former CE Tung Chee-hwa’s wife. At the inauguration, several dozen university students were sworn in.

The ceremony was criticized when only a handful of pro-establishment news organizations were allowed into the base. Chan claimed that this was because the PLA site had strict controls on publicity. Others see thee military-style youth group as a first step to “indoctrinating” young people and building up a sense of strong national identity in light of the Occupation Movement.

Fung Wai-wah, head of the HK Professional Teachers’ Union, has described the development of this cadet force as “dangerous”, as the uniformed group seems to be linked with the PLA.