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Sixty per cent of Hong Kong students find China news a turn-off

Other News Materials 21 January 2008 08:36 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa ) - Ten years after their home city reverted to Chinese rule, six out of 10 Hong Kong students have little interest in news from China, according to a survey Monday.

Almost 60 per cent of secondary school students in the former British colony said they only occasionally read news from China, preferring instead to concentrate on Hong Kong news.

The survey, which involved interviews with hundreds of students, is further proof that Hong Kong youngsters still regard themselves as separate from their neighbours in mainland Chinese.

Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed government has struggled to generate patriotism towards China since the city reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 after 156 years of British colonial rule.

To combat the negative sentiment, China flag-raising ceremonies have been introduced and patriotic broadcasts beamed out before evening news programmes featuring rousing images of the "motherland" set to the Chinese national anthem.

Millions of dollars will be spent trying to whip up interest in this summer's Beijing Olympics which has been met with general indifference in Hong Kong even though the city will host the equestrian events.

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