Hong Kong authorities are aiming to strengthen “national identity” among school children through a new curriculum issued on Tuesday. Branded as “brainwashing” by critics, the 89-page revised framework on civic values, titled the “Values Education Curriculum Framework,” was issued to all schools in the city. It replaces an eight-page “Moral and Civic Education Curriculum Framework” that was issued in 2008. Hong Kong’s Education Bureau said in the document that pupils should under the new rules “correctly understand” Chinese history, the mainland’s constitution, culture and values, and respect China’s national symbols, including the flag. “After Hong Kong went through large-scale social turmoil, we have to strengthen national identity education work,” the bureau said, alluding to mass pro-democracy protests in the city during 2019-2020. School and university students were at the forefront of many past protest movements against Beijing’s encroachments upon Hong Kong freedoms since the former British colony was returned to …