Hong Kong's middle school students back to public schools in Causeway Bay on May 27, 2020 after a four-month class suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: China Daily)

Hong Kong's education system must adhere to the right direction of "one country, two systems" and core values such as patriotism, the rule of law, self-reliance, inclusiveness and harmony, the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a statement on Friday.

The office called on all of Hong Kong to take action to cut off the "black hand" being extended to the education system and young people.

The Demosisto party of high-profile activist Joshua Wong has been advocating a student strike to oppose proposed national security legislation for Hong Kong. On May 28, the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, approved the decision to enact such legislation.

A HKMAO spokesperson said in the statement that the students are being used to prevent the passing of the national security legislation.

A significant number of students in Hong Kong have already paid a heavy price by taking part in radical and violent crimes, the HKMAO said.

As of May 29, more than 40 percent of the 8,981 people arrested for illegal activities were students, the youngest being 11 years old, according to the office.

A student aged 12 has been arrested three times for illegal activities, a 13-year-old was detained with concealed petrol bombs on his body, while youths as young as 16 and 17 were involved in a fatal assault on an elderly street cleaner.

"Many young students have committed felonies, and the record and stain of those crimes will weigh heavily on them for a long time, destroying what should have been a bright future for them," said the spokesman.

In many Hong Kong schools, education has seriously deviated from the direction of "one country, two systems" and the idea of "Hong Kong independence" as well as violence was spreading in schools.

According to the office, a teacher in Hong Kong openly declared that the British invasion of China during the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century was to eliminate the narcotic. An assistant high school principal said that police officers' children should "not live past the age of seven".

"If the educational chaos in Hong Kong does not stop, the political chaos in Hong Kong will be endless," the spokesman said.

All incitement of "Hong Kong independence" and violence must be eliminated from schools, the spokesman said.

Educational authorities, schools, teachers and parents in Hong Kong were also urged to safeguard the education system and young people.