The protest song went viral, and officials in Hong Kong have ordered a probe into the incident.
A protest song played in place of the Chinese National Anthem has invited official ire in Hong Kong. It all happened when the song, which is said to be associated with the protests in Hong Kong against Chinese supremacy, was sung at a rugby game. As soon as the song went viral, officials in Hong Kong have ordered a probe into the incident.
Officials termed the song as strongly deplorable saying that the playing of a song that is linked with violent protests cannot be allowed. The song, Glory to Hong Kong, was played just before a match between Hong Kong and South Korea at the Asia Rugby Sevens. The tournament is a regional competition played annually.
What made things worse is the fact that the protest song is being seen as the unofficial anthem of the 2019 pro-democracy movement. It is no wonder that the authorities have been taken aback when the song was played, and when it went viral thereafter.
Protest song is a pro-democracy anthem
Hong Kong’s democracy supporters are against Beijing’s strict control, over the city and protests have been common. The pro-democracy anthem had been seen totally against the current regime, and it has been seen as a move against its policies. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.
The lyrics which include phrases such as “tears on our land”, “democracy and liberty” and such have been seen as against China, and the authorities are not very happy about the way protests have been building up.
Though authorities haven’t been able to know how the song was played, the situation is that it is currently popular after it had gone viral online, since Sunday. When encountered with the question as to how this happened, the organisers of the rugby tournament have stated that it was a mistake was caused by human error of a junior staff. They reiterated that the Hong Kong team coach had submitted the correct song.
Hong King has a law against disrespecting Chinese national anthem
However, the government officials don’t seem to buy that, and have directed the Hong Kong Rugby Union to deal with the matter seriously and initiate a full and in-depth investigation, a report said. The Hong Kong team has, in the meanwhile, added that it had realised the mistake and had played China’s national anthem, March of the Volunteers, during the prize ceremony. Hong Kong had won the final match.
The situation turns out to be serious for the Hong Kong rugby team as the city has enacted law against disrespecting the Chinese national anthem. The law came into effect in 2020, considering the fact the Chinese anthem had been ridiculed during football matches.
