Hongkongers studying overseas - the next threat to national security?

An article published in The Hong Kong Standard has raised concerns about potential efforts to discourage or prohibit Hong Kong students from studying overseas, framing such programs as a threat to national security. The piece, which lacks an author byline, suggests that "foreign schemes" exploit free travel opportunities to recruit elites for disruptive purposes in Hong Kong.

The article heavily relies on anonymous sources, attributing claims to "some political figures," "the political figure," "the outside world," and "informed sources." The author also launches a fierce, unattributed attack on the Hong Kong Journalists Association, which the writer suspects is also a "political figure."

The author specifically targets exchange programs sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the UK Foreign Office, such as the International Visitor Leadership Program and the Chevening Scholarship scheme. These programs are accused of surreptitiously promoting "freedom, democracy and the rule of law," which the author deems "seditious notions" and "hostile Anti-China and Hong Kong-disrupting ideologies."

Furthermore, the article expresses apprehension towards fellowships at Harvard University's Nieman Fellowship and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. The author fears the underlying objection is to foreign travel and overseas study itself, potentially impacting institutions that hosted journalists Bao Choy and Ronson Chan.