The government should bolster education on the Chinese constitution in the wake of a controversy over whether Hong Kong was a British colony, lawmakers have said. They also criticised a new Basic Law test for teachers, saying it was “too easy” and that even those who passed it might not have a solid grasp of the city’s mini-constitution. Members of the Legislative Council’s constitutional affairs panel were briefed by officials on Monday on the government’s work to promote the constitution and the Basic Law. Priscilla Leung Mei-fun of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong said the lack of education on the constitution was to blame for the recent row over the city’s pre-handover status. “Many overseas media made use of this to smear the Hong Kong government,” said Leung, who also sits on the Basic Law Committee under the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body. “But that Hong Kong was not a colony is not a new theory. A United Nations resolution in 1972 had effectively removed Hong Kong from the list of colonies. “The reason why there are misunderstandings [among some Hong Kong people] is because we lack constitution education, both in our national education and Basic Law education. It is important to let people understand that the constitution is the root of the Basic Law and also the constitutional foundation of ‘one country, two systems’.” Tang Fei, fellow lawmaker and vice-chairman of the Federation of Education Workers, also took aim at the government for failing to respond immediately when the media tried to “make a fuss” over the issue. At the centre of the controversy is the statement in new secondary school textbooks that the city was not a British colony, but an occupied territory, as the Chinese government did not recognise the unequal treaties that ceded Hong Kong to Britain in the 19th century. Hong Kong was not British colony as China retained sovereignty: new textbooks When the People’s Republic of China formally became a member of the United Nations in 1971, it opposed the body’s classification of Hong Kong and Macau as colonies. The following year, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 2908 by a vote of 99-5, which led to the two cities being removed from the UN list of non-self-governing territories. But Britain, which occupied Hong Kong from 1841 until 1997 under treaties with China’s then ruling Qing dynasty, maintained the General Assembly’s action in no way affected the legal status of Hong Kong. At Monday’s Legco panel meeting, Undersecretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Clement Woo Kin-man said the government was committed to promoting the constitution and the Basic Law. He stressed that one of Hong Kong’s missions under the country’s latest five-year plan was to “strengthen education on the constitution and the Basic Law as well as national education, and enhance national awareness and patriotism”. Woo said one priority would be to bolster the public’s awareness that the constitution preceded the Basic Law and that “one country” was the prerequisite and foundation of “two systems”. Hong Kong could ‘gradually’ require more teachers to take Basic Law exam Lawmaker Yim Kong stressed the need for proper training for teachers if lessons about the constitution and Basic Law in schools were to be effective. The Education Bureau introduced a Basic Law test for teachers this year and all new teachers in public sector schools will be required to pass it from the 2022-23 academic year. Deputy Secretary for Education Hong Chan Tsui-wah told the panel that two tests had been held so far, with 70 per cent and 80 per cent of the teachers passing, respectively But lawmaker Lai Tung-kwok of the New People’s Party said the pass rates were too low, noting that it was only a multiple-choice exam. He also said it reflected the government had been lax in its Basic Law education. The sole non-establishment member in Legco, Tik Chi-yuen of the centrist party Third Side, said: “Constitution and Basic Law education should not be only about the country’s power and national security. It should also touch on civil rights and liberties.” He cited Basic Law articles 45 and 68, saying the ultimate aim was to allow the city’s leader and Legco members to be selected by universal suffrage.