Ex-Hong Kong exam official says he will no longer speak to the press after becoming a victim of ‘character assassination’ since stepping down

A veteran employee at Hong Kong’s exam authority who stepped down last year following an outcry over a question on Sino-Japanese relations has said he will stop commenting on the saga to protect his family’s safety.

In a personal statement released on Saturday night, Hans Yeung Wing-yu doubled down on his insistence that he resigned under pressure, and maintained he had been a victim of “character assassination” since leaving the exam body.

Yeung was blamed for a controversial university entrance exam question that had asked students if they agreed with the statement that Japan did “more good than harm to China” in the first half of the 20th century. The question sparked ire in some quarters, particularly the city’s pro-establishment camp, which claimed it ignored Japanese wartime atrocities. Defenders, on the other hand, noted students were not required to agree with the statement, and said the question had asked them to exercise critical thinking skills.

Last month, in interviews with the Post and other media outlets, Yeung himself defended the controversial question, and said he had been made a scapegoat.

In his latest statement, however, Yeung said that after the interviews, someone wrote to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority in his name insinuating he was now involved in a prostitution racket.

He said the letter was a “clear warning” from his opponents, though he did not elaborate on who they might be.

“Truth is of course important. But I also have the responsibility to protect the safety of my family members,” Yeung said in his statement.

“Therefore, from today, I will decline any request from the press for comments about the incident, and shall not make comments in any public form.”