Censorship Not A Factor In Textbook Revamp: Yeung

The Secretary for Education, Kevin Yeung, has dismissed suggestions that political considerations were behind a decision to scrap a separate, stand-alone chapter on Hong Kong history in future Chinese history textbooks for junior secondary school students.

The government announced earlier this week that instead of illustrating Hong Kong history separately, the city's developments will now be integrated into the country's history, with a special emphasis on Hong Kong's role in the mainland's reform process.

Mr Yeung stressed on Saturday that the decision was made after thorough consultation with schools and teachers, and there was no political agenda behind it.

"It is not a scrapping of the Hong Kong section," Yeung said. "It is a methodology of teaching that puts the content of the Hong Kong development into the history of the mainland, of our country. So there’s no political consideration in that aspect."

It's the latest controversy over the SAR's education, with the media reporting last month that the Education Bureau's Textbook Committee deemed certain phrases in some Chinese History textbooks to be "inappropriate", and asked the publishers to change them.

The phrases included "Hong Kong is located in southern China" and "China took back the sovereignty of Hong Kong".