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Education in Hong Kong
Hong KongPolitics

Nothing wrong with school history textbooks reflecting Chinese view of Hong Kong handover, Carrie Lam says

Chief executive says people are overreacting to government-appointed panel’s opposition to description of Hong Kong’s 1997 shift from British to Chinese rule in school textbook

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People objecting to a change in Chinese history books are overreacting, Lam says. Photo: Reuters
Alvin Lum

There is nothing wrong in a government-appointed committee wanting school history textbooks to be more precise in the description of Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, and people should not overreact to these efforts, the city’s leader said on Tuesday.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she had read the findings of the Education Bureau’s external textbook review group, which said describing China as “taking back” Hong Kong in 1997 was problematic.

Other phrases of concern for the committee in secondary school Chinese history textbooks included “Hong Kong is located south of China” and “the Chinese Communist Party’s one-party rule”.

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The committee’s findings mean any future book using the phrases would be unlikely to make the Education Bureau’s recommended reading list.

Lam has weighed into the debate about the changes to textbooks. Photo: Sam Tsang
Lam has weighed into the debate about the changes to textbooks. Photo: Sam Tsang
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“China has never handed Hong Kong’s sovereignty to others,” Lam said, adding that it was more accurate to say China “resumed sovereignty” over Hong Kong.

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