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Education in Hong Kong
OpinionLetters

Letters | China-Japan relations before World War II: why row over Hong Kong DSE history exam is unwarranted

  • It is a must for candidates to both discuss the given sources and other historical developments not covered in the sources
  • The Education Bureau should not compromise the professionalism of historians and educators in the pursuit of Chinese patriotism and political correctness

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A boy visits a war museum at the Marco Polo bridge, or Lugouqiao, in west Beijing on July 7, 2014. The day marked the 77th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge incident, a skirmish between troops that triggered the Sino-Japanese war. Photo: AFP
Letters
I was provoked by the Education Bureau’s inapt criticism on May 14 of a data-based question in this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education history examination, on Sino-Japanese relations in the first half of the 20th century. I am now further angered by Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung’s announcement that the bureau will ask the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) to invalidate the question.
In a statement on Thursday, the bureau accused the HKEAA of attaching “one-sided information” to the question and leading candidates “to reach a biased conclusion, seriously hurting the feelings and dignity of the Chinese people who suffered great pain during the Japanese invasion of China.”

The “one-sided information” the bureau refers to included a 1905 account by a Japanese university president discussing the promotion of legal education among Chinese students studying in Japan, a 1912 letter by Chinese revolutionary Huang Xing to a Japanese politician, and a contract of a Japanese zaibatsu [conglomerate] lending a sum of money to the newly established Republican government.

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A sub-question asked candidates to discuss whether they agreed with the statement “Japan brought more benefit than harm to China in the period 1900-45”. Candidates were instructed to use their own knowledge, apart from citing the sources given, to justify their views.

Anyone with experience in the history public exam would know that to get a passing score in questions like this, it is a must to both discuss the given sources and other historical developments not covered in the sources. Since the question’s time frame ends in 1945, it is impossible for candidates to refrain from addressing the Shandong issue arising from the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and the 1937-45 Sino-Japanese war, including the atrocious Nanking massacre.

Candidates are free to interpret these sources and developments in making their own judgment. Satisfactory scores will be given as long as candidates’ arguments are comprehensively, logically and accurately elaborated, following the instructions.

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