Hong Kong trying to shut up Mao on Japan’s invasion

WAS Japan’s invasion of China 80-some years ago a good thing? Sounds like a silly question to ask, and yet it was posed in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination last week, sparking a huge controversy, including reprimands from Beijing, which in turn spurred Hong Kong’s secretary for education to announce the cancellation of the question, already answered by 5,200 history students.

The question itself asked if students agreed that Japan brought more good than harm to China between 1900 and 1945. They were asked to cite two sources. One was a 1905 article by Ume Kenjiro, a legal scholar and founder of Hosei University, who stressed the importance for Chinese reformers to learn law and politics. The second consisted of excerpts from revolutionary leader Huang Xing’s letter to a Japanese politician, Inoue Kaoru, seeking financial help and a 1912 contract detailing support by Japanese conglomerate Mitsui for the Republic of China.