A Hong Kong educator resigned earlier this year after coming under “immense” political pressure leading to the abrupt withdrawal of an exam question he had written, Apple Daily has learned.

Hans Yeung, the former history subject committee secretary and development manager at the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), wrote an exam question which sparked a months-long wrangle in May, leading to his resignation three months later.

That question was whether Japan did more good than harm to China between 1900 and 1945. It was later condemned by the city’s education bureau for being leading, suggestive, and “seriously” hurting the feelings and dignity of people who suffered under Japan’s invasion of China. The HKEAA is under the education bureau.

Yeung was also criticized by the local state-owned newspaper Wen Wei Po for making “improper comments” on his private social media account, said sources familiar with the issue. The HKEAA launched an investigation into Yeung’s comments on Facebook, as well as into remarks made by other HKEAA staffers which the education bureau deemed “inappropriate.”

The controversy escalated when an exam-taker in July took the matter to court. But the court refused to consider the issue, saying the HKEAA had the authority to remove questions it deemed inappropriate.

Yeung decided to resign in August. He told colleagues in a letter that he was succumbing to “immense” political pressure, and that he had been warned that he was going to be fired in any case, sources told Apple Daily.

The HKEAA removed the question after students had already taken the examination. That forced Yeung to cover the students’ answers while he scanned each exam paper to be marked on computers.

Yeung recalled weeping several times when he thought about the incident, describing it as the “biggest insult” he experienced during his years-long tenure at the HKEAA, sources told Apple Daily.

Yeung was not the first HKEAA employee to resign over the history question controversy. Before Yeung, those who stepped down included secretary general So Kwok-sang, general manager Wan Tak-wing, the senior manager of liberal studies assessment development Keith Lo, and assessment development manager Gloria Leung.

The HKEAA and the education bureau have not yet responded to questions from Apple Daily.

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