Christmas has come and gone. The global holiday of Western origin has seen new big changes in Hong Kong and China. In Hong Kong, no festivities were held this year. In China, an increasing number of people start to mark Chairman Mao Zedong’s birthday, Dec. 26, 1893.

Christmas is one of the most important holidays in the former British colony. It has remained unchanged for years after the handover in 1997. On Christmas day, many Hong Kongers go to church for services, have a big dinner with the family while shop owners are well-prepared to welcome big crowds. But this year, streets are empty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with many choosing to stay inside.

Another reason has a lot to do with changes in the political and economic environment. In Hong Kong, Asia’s financial center, business activities, gatherings, and parties hosted by listed companies constitute a key part of Christmas events. In recent years, Chinese enterprises have entered Hong Kong, increasing their share in Hong Kong’s economy. These companies do not tend to celebrate Christmas. Anti-corruption campaign has also led to significant cancellations of banquets and parties between business owners and clients, which in turn has greatly lowered Christmas shopping spree.

Under Hong Kong’s new National Security Law, the political climate has changed dramatically. Hong Kong’s government continues to crackdown on anti-government protesters, with some saying the ‘second handover’ has come earlier than expected. The call to ‘Look North’ has turned Christmas into a politically incorrect holiday. Since Hong Kong is included in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), its economy and politics have to be transformed accordingly, and its culture and traditions have to be integrated. Hong Kong government acts as a role model by not marking a foreign holiday, and the subordinates are following suit.

Retailers have been urged to promote Chinese Lunar New Year and other Beijing-acceptable holidays as key shopping seasons in lieu of the Christmas sales period. Well, sound out of the question at first, but if you look at the setbacks Christmas has suffered in mainland China over the past few years, you will know this move is a ‘preparation way in advance’.

Big cities in China, like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, used to be as festive as Hong Kong and Taipei at the end of the year. But since 2017, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) introduced the sinicization of foreign religions, government agencies and schools have banned students from attending Christmas parties. Rallies across China launched a campaign calling on the public to ‘ban foreign holidays and embrace Chinese holidays’. Christmas is gradually disappearing in China while more churches are being demolished.

The policy of sinicizing foreign religions has a five-year plan, guiding local catholic churches, for instance, ‘to integrate with Chinese culture in the proposition of theological ideas, expression of social rituals and in Church building, painting, music and art.’ Its ultimate goal is to immerse Western religions in ‘Chinese culture’, just as indigenization of Buddhism in the East. Other major religions, including Christianity and Islam, have come to promote ‘three freedoms’, namely self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation. Sinicization is intended to remove the label of ‘foreign’ on major religions and rid them of foreign influence.

Since it is a national policy to sinicize foreign religions, banning Christmas is within expectation. The policy actually has a lot to do with Xi’s ‘four confidences’. In 2017, the State Council released guidelines on preserving and developing excellent traditional Chinese culture. The report titled ‘Suggestions on the implementation of projects to promote and develop traditional Chinese culture excellence’ lists important Chinese holidays, like the Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Seventh Festival, Moon Festival among others, as cultural conventions worthy of celebration and integration into life.

A series of moves, from the revival of traditional Chinese holidays, sinicization of foreign religions, to the ban on Christmas celebrations, suggest China is now introducing a national campaign to consolidate its fourth confidence—confidence in culture, after ‘three confidences in road, theory, and system’.

This is not bad, but the government-led cultural campaign is most likely to go awry. A teacher banned students from celebrating Christmas. Instead, he encouraged a celebration of Chairman Mao’s birthday. A high school in Jiangsu Province released a guideline asking faculty and students not to attend parties, organize celebrations, buy Christmas products, and display Christmas decorations. Instead, it urged them to ‘speak Chinese, eat Chinese food, wear Chinese clothes, use made-in-China products, celebrate Chinese holidays.’ In a remote village of Jiangxi Province, Christians who believe in God were told to believe in General Secretary as Jesus can’t help you out of poverty, but General Secretary Xi can!

Cultural construction takes time, marked by diversity and tolerance. From a global view, modernization of culture in any society should begin with the promotion of the human’s common good. China’s ban on Christmas in the name of nationalism and patriotism is likely to result in exclusion and conservatism, which is not helpful to advance its own civilization. Celebrating Chairman Mao’s birthday in lieu of Christmas is no different from blindly observing western holidays, indicating a lack of confidence. In this regard, China has a long way to go before it revives the traditional culture.

(Huang Ching-Lung, President of Taipei Trust in Democracy Association)

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