Revised version of video on 1937 Nanking massacre issued after graphic scenes horrified Hong Kong primary school pupils last year
- Some scenes blacked out in teaching aid after children as young as seven viewed graphic images last year
- Education Bureau has also added a warning that it should not be shown to very young children
Hong Kong education officials have blocked some horrific scenes of the 1930s Nanking massacre in China after a video that contained graphic footage of mass murder traumatised children as young as seven when it was aired in classrooms last year.
Now the educational aid on the massacre by Imperial Japanese Army troops in 1937 has been revised by the Education Bureau, although it still contains some scenes of killing, and a warning not to show it to young children has been added.
About a minute of footage that featured scenes of brutality has blacked out and replaced by a voice-over.
“The massacre by the Japanese army in Nanking city was filmed by foreign war reporters at that time. But because it was too bloody and violent, the school, of course, would not broadcast it for everyone to watch,” the voice-over said.
The voice-over also asked youngsters to observe a minute’s silence in memory of those murdered by the invasion forces.
But the revised teaching resources, outlined in a memo to schools, also included other video links that showed images of the killing of the Chinese victims and their internal organs.