The Hong Kong government is learnt to have asked a local court to ban a protest song, ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, saying it wants to prevent people from inciting secession or insulting the national anthem of China. In a statement, as quoted by news agency Reuters, the government said the song has been “mistakenly presented as the 'national anthem of Hong Kong' repeatedly”, and that this has “insulted” China’s national anthem and “also caused serious damage to the country and the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region)”.
Hong Kong’s Department of Justice has sought to make it illegal the performance or dissemination of the song and even its tune, both online and offline, according to a writ that Reuters says it has seen. The government will also ban 32 videos of the ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ song available on YouTube, including its English, Dutch and Japanese versions, the report said.
The government said, according to an Associated Press report, the lyrics of the song contain certain slogans that were ruled as “constituting secession”. The report was referring to the protest slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”, which the government outlawed in 2020 for being secessionist and subversive. The lyrics of “Glory to Hong Kong” contain parts of the same slogan.
The government’s decision to move court comes after the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association was reprimanded by the city-state’s top sports federation for playing the protest anthem at an international competition. The federation updated its guidelines to require teams to boycott award ceremonies at international competitions until organisers agree to let them ensure the song will not be played. The protest anthem was apparently played mistakenly instead of the Chinese national anthem after Hong Kong beat Iran at the competition in February this year. According to the Reuters report, Google has said it would not change its search results to display China's national anthem, ‘March of the Volunteers’, rather than ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, when users search for the national anthem of Hong Kong.
The government is awaiting directions from the court for further action, and a hearing date is not fixed yet, the report said.
Controversy Over 'Glory to Hong Kong'
Hong Kong, officially a special administrative region (SAR) of China, does not have its own national anthem. ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, written during the 2019 pro-democracy protests, became the unofficial anthem of sorts and has since been played at several international events, including the ice hockey competition.
In 2020, schools in Hong Kong banned the song after China implemented a comprehensive national security law in the city-state, aiming to punish acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with potential life imprisonment.
Hong Kong had erupted in protests in 2019 against an extradition bill, which has since been withdrawn. However, many demonstrators in the former British colony still consider the song to be their national anthem.
The lyrics of the song, penned anonymously, reflected the vow of the protesters to not surrender though the government withdrew the proposed extradition law that would have allowed suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to China for trial. While the initial unrest was because of the bill, amid fear about the growing influence of Beijing over Hong Kong, the protesters later widened their demands to include direct elections and accountability for the police.
The song calling for democracy and liberty had struck a chord with the local residents, boosting their morale. Several viral videos in 2019 would show mass singing of the song in the malls.
It was widely reported how Hong Kong soccer fans broke into the song before a World Cup qualifier match against Iran in September 2019, after booing at the Chinese national anthem played at the stadium.
The ice hockey competition was not the first event where the song was mistakenly played. According to an AP report, the South Korean organisers of a regional rugby tournament also played the protest song before a match in Incheon in November last year, and later apologised for it as the incident sparked strong reaction from the Hong Kong government.
Prior to that, a man was arrested in September for sedition after he paid a musical tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II near the British Consulate in Hong Kong, playing songs including ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ on a harmonica, media reports said.
Hong Kong has a unique political and economic system that sets it apart from mainland China.
Historically, Hong Kong was a British colony from 1842 until 1997, when it was returned to China under the principle of “one country, two systems”. It maintains its own legal and economic systems, separate from those of mainland China, as agreed upon in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which stipulated that Hong Kong would be a Special Administrative Region and its capitalist system and way of life would remain unchanged for 50 years after the handover in 1997.
Hong Kong has its own government, led by a Chief Executive, and a Legislative Council. The widespread protests of 2019, over concerns about eroding freedoms and increased mainland Chinese influence, highlighted the tensions between the local population's desire for democratic reforms and Beijing's control over the territory.