Lee Cheuk-yiu reads out a paragraph from 97. Hong Kong, a textbook for mainland primary school students: 'In the 18th and 19th centuries, the West continued to expand its influences and aggression and to conquer.
'The British had long had their eyes on Hong Kong's wide and deep port and its superior geographical position. At the time, Britain was exporting a large amount of opium into China for huge profits.
'The opium trade deeply poisoned the Chinese society. It not only seriously damaged the Chinese economy, poisoned the people physically and mentally, but also corrupted the general mood of the society.' The Primary Six student frowns. This is not the kind of Hong Kong history he is familiar with. The 13-year-old says: 'I know the Opium War started because a boat-load of opium was set on fire. My teacher did not go into the details.' But in the chapter entitled: The History of Humiliation, Cheuk-yiu learns how the British forced the Chinese to trade opium with them and when China lost the Opium War, it had to sign Hong Kong away to the enemy.
'That is why the mother [China] was separated by force from her child [Hong Kong] for the past 150 years,' the textbook explains.
Given that Hong Kong is a British-dependent territory, it is easy to understand why local textbooks were not written in the same way as 97. Hong Kong. But with 100 days to go before the territory returns to China, Hong Kong textbooks are set to be revised.
The Chinese Government insists post-handover textbooks - including its descriptions of Hong Kong's future political system, the structure of its government, and its relationship to the mainland - should be consistent with the Basic Law.
