Hong Kong gov’t expands rehabilitation programme for released protesters with mainland China tours

2026-02-24 - 06:15

The Hong Kong government is organising exchange tours to mainland China as part of a project to rehabilitate protesters and activists who have been jailed. Wong Kwok-hing, commissioner of the Correctional Services Department (CSD), said at a press conference on Monday that the department had expanded Project PATH – a rehabilitation programme launched in 2021 for those jailed over the 2019 protests and unrest – to include supervision services after discharge. Young rehabilitated persons visit the San Tan Geming Shiji Exhibition Hall – which honours the “Three Revolutionary Tans”: Tan Pingshan, Tan Zhitang, and Tan Tiandu – in Foshan, Guangdong province, on February 7, 2026. Photo: GovHK. Under the expanded project, the CSD has been organising tours to mainland China for released prisoners under supervision since early February. Wong said that the tours were not compulsory, Ming Pao reported on Tuesday. The goal of the tours is “to enable them to obtain an understanding of national affairs, witness the latest national developments, enrich their knowledge of Chinese culture and enhance their sense of national identity, thereby further fostering their affection for and sense of belonging to our country,” according to a CSD statement on Monday. A total of 14 young rehabilitated persons joined an exchange tour to the Greater Bay Area, which lasted three days and two nights, earlier this month, according to a statement released on February 10. The first destination was Foshan on February 7, where they visited an exhibition hall honouring three Chinese Communist Party revolutionaries to “learn about modern Chinese history,” a local school to interact with mainland Chinese teachers and students, and a traditional Chinese medicine hospital. They then headed to Zhuhai to visit an aircraft company and a space centre. Hong Kong Commissioner of Correctional Services Wong Kwok-hing. File photo: GovHK. In the February 10 statement, the CSD cited tour participant and former protester Ah Ming (a pseudonym), who thanked the department for organising the tour that “allowed him to rediscover his homeland.” “Ah Ming added that he previously had misunderstandings about the Chinese Mainland due to being misled, ” the CSD said. “This trip has broadened his horizons significantly, not only allowing him to learn about Chinese history and culture, but also providing an opportunity for him to ride a high-speed train for the first time and visit technology enterprises, so that he could understand in person the rapid development of the country.” In February 2023, Wong rejected concerns that Project PATH involved elements of “brainwashing,” saying that inmates joined the programme voluntarily. Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”