Rewritten schoolbooks say Hong Kong was never British colony: Report

New schoolbooks will teach students in Hong Kong that the city was never a British colony, the South China Morning Post reports, as Beijing seeks to tighten its control of the territory.

The four sets of textbooks for a class on citizenship say the Chinese government never recognized the 19th-century treaties that handed Britain control of Hong Kong, the report says. 

They also stick to the government’s stance on the large and sometimes violent protests in the city in 2019, blaming them on “external forces.” 

The educational materials have been provided to schools so they can pick which to teach from September, the newspaper said.