People lay flowers to pay tribute to revolutionary martyrs during a campaign at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, April 4, 2019. China has kicked off a campaign to promote paying tribute to revolutionary martyrs as Tomb-sweeping Day draws near. The campaign is aimed at combining educational activities with paying tribute. Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, falls on April 5 this year. It is a traditional Chinese holiday where people pay tribute to deceased family and friends. (Photo: Xinhua)

 The Hong Kong Education Bureau clarified Saturday that it was not aware and had not sent any of its staff members to review a highly controversial and insulting history test question, rebutting a malicious accusation that the authority knew about the question before the tests began and "set up a trap to frame others."

The response came after an inappropriate question appeared in the history test paper from the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (DSE) on Thursday, asking examinees whether they agreed that the period of Japan's colonization of and invasion in China from 1900 to 1945 did more good than harm to China, which some believe is just as ridiculous as asking European students whether Hitler did more good than harm to Europe. 

According to the announcement published Saturday on the news website of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region government, the bureau said the staffer they employed had already served on the relevant moderation committee in a personal capacity before joining the bureau. 

 "Due to the confidentiality protocol, the staff member concerned did not and cannot disclose the content of the examination questions to anyone, including his colleagues in the bureau," said the announcement.

The announcement was made in response to a report by local media outlet Apple Daily, which is regarded by many as pro-separatism. The report on Friday quoted unnamed sources as saying that the Hong Kong education bureau was aware of the exam's content before the test began, with a headline pointing out that the incident aimed to "set up a trap to frame others."

The bureau expressed deep regret over the report, as it had seriously undermined its integrity, read the announcement.

The bureau noted that "even if a staff member was invited to serve as a member of a committee, they have to abide by strict confidentiality rules and must not disclose the content of examination questions to others, including those in the bureau."

The bureau also urged all sectors to not to be deliberately misled or have their attention diverted from the real issue at hand.

On Thursday night, the bureau slammed the biased question and urged the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) to follow up and rectify the issue. The bureau said that the question seriously hurt the feelings and dignity of people who suffered greatly during Japan's aggression. 

Deputy-director of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers Nicholas Muk also condemned the question for being extremely biased. "If the question intends to guide the students to answer with agreement, it is actually guiding the students to become hanjian (traitors to China)."

Global Times