There is no censorship in secondary school textbooks, Hong Kong’s education minister has said, defending a government decision to remove references on the city’s separation of powers from the latest textbook editions.

Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung on Saturday said the government was not prohibiting any dissemination of information, but that it was important to ensure secondary school textbooks were written in accordance with the Basic Law, the city’s mini constitution, and accurately described the local political system.

Earlier in the week, Yeung triggered a political storm by saying that a separation of powers between Hong Kong’s executive, legislative and judicial bodies had never existed in the city’s constitutional system. Chief Executive Carrie Lam later backed his remarks, adding that the executive branch, authorized by the central government in Beijing, led the entire Hong Kong government.

Speaking on the furore on Saturday, Yeung told RTHK that secondary school textbooks should only impart basic knowledge and had no room for political discussion, which could be conducted in universities, where there was academic freedom to do so.

The need for a textbook review had originated from a slew of complaints the government received about liberal studies textbooks last year, he said. Some people were worried that those books had pushed young people into getting involved in anti-extradition bill protests which broke out in June last year and had since evolved into a citywide anti-government movement.

When asked if the textbooks were the root of the problem, Yeung said: “Today’s liberal education has caused a lot of distrust in society and have made many people become skeptical of it. Is this subject really helping students learn what it set out to teach? Or would it be used by some people to promote their own personal opinions?”

Yeung denied there was any censorship, when asked why some textbooks had deleted references to Hong Kong’s civil disobedience movement and the names of political organizations, such as localist political party Youngspiration and the now disbanded pro-democracy party Demosisto. He argued that the focus should be on whether the publication content was in line with teaching goals.

He added that while reviewing the content of the books, the government would make recommendations to the publisher but stressed that the publisher also had the right to reflect and make their own adjustments at the end of the day.

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