History textbook for Chinese schoolchildren mentioning ‘Covid war’ sparks debate

‘Every single character on that page seems to be mocking our painful three years’

Representational image: Eighth grade history book has included China’s ‘war’ on Covid (AFP via Getty Images)

A history textbook for school students in China has mentioned the country's "war" on Covid-19 for the first time, triggering a debate on the administration's response to the pandemic.

The Xi Jinping government earlier this year declared a "decisive victory" over the coronavirus, just months after facing rare mass protests over stringent lockdown measures.

A video showing a paragraph from a history textbook for eighth-grade students began trending Wednesday on Douyin, China's domestic version of TikTok.