Deletion of Tiananmen text 'foolish'

THE historian who said it is still too early to explain the significance of the French Revolution of the late 18th century might have been in agreement, but few legislators in Hong Kong are.

Director of Education Dominic Wong Shing-wah last week caused a storm of controversy when he tried to justify his decision to delete a ''neutral'' mention of the Tiananmen Square incident on June 4, 1989, from history books used by students. His statement that history was limited to events which took place more than 20 years ago elicited incredulity.

Several legislators asked whether it meant the handover of the territory in 1997 would be censored from history books until the year 2017.

Education Panel member Peggy Lam pointed out that other events, such as economic reforms in China in the 1980s and the recent opening of the Daya Bay nuclear plant, were not being deleted from the text.

Cheung Man-kwong, chairman of the Professional Teachers' Union, has asked Legco's Education Panel to discuss the matter. He said the deletion was a ''very foolish thing''.

Legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing described the 20-year limit as ''a bit far-fetched''.

Last Friday, Governor Chris Patten entered the row. He ordered a review into the Education Department's decision and said he wished to see whether the rule was ''appropriate or relevant''.

The two texts involved - the first published by Manhattan Press for Form Three students, and the second published by Lingkee for Form Five students - were described as ''basically neutral'' by United Democrats legislator, the Reverend Fung Chi-wood.

Manhattan's version reads: ''Following the reforms, corruption spread in the Government. Faced with this situation, young Chinese students and the general public became disgruntled. During May 1989, they gathered in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to protest. In June, the Government intervened to end the situation.'' In Lingkee's version the offending paragraph is just a footnote describing a democratic movement during April to June 1989. It says that after the ''clearing of Tiananmen Square'', Jiang Zemin replaced Zhao Ziyang as Communist Party General Secretary.