'Govt Whitewashing History With No Handover Claim'

The chairman of the Democratic Party, Wu Chi-wai, has slammed the government for removing references to a 1997 "handover of sovereignty" from its online platforms, accusing officials of trying to "whitewash history".

Wu's comment follows a media report that the government's Protocol Division, which is responsible for receiving foreign dignitaries and consuls general, recently removed the phrase on the handover from its website.

Last month, there was an outcry when an Education Bureau external textbook review group also said it was incorrect to say that China had "taken back" Hong Kong in 1997.

Wu said he was concerned the SAR is now on a slippery slope and the authorities will soon attempt to change other historical facts too.

"It is so clear, not only to Hong Kong but to the international community, we all understand that the 1997 handover was a sovereignty handover," Wu said.

"When you can give up your bottom line, than you can give up anything. If a piece of history is scrutinised by the international community and you whitewash it, I think the government will not bother to have any shame in whitewashing other things."

Commenting on the textbook row last month, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said China had never handed sovereignty of Hong Kong to anyone else, so rather than "taking back" sovereignty over Hong Kong, it is more accurate to say that China "resumed the exercise of sovereignty".