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Journalism of Courage
During the much-anticipated final of the Asia Rugby Sevens tournament between South Korea and Hong Kong, a protest song associated with Hong Kong’s anti-China independence movement was played before the start of the match. The Korean organisers promptly announced an apology and subsequently played the Chinese national anthem ahead of the match in South Korea’s Incheon.
In recent years Hong Kong, which is a Special Administrative Region controlled by China, has seen massive protests demanding more autonomy from mainland China, democratic reforms, and fair investigations into human rights violations by the government. The song ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, became popular during the explosive 2019 anti-China protests in Hong Kong.
Videos of the protest song being played during Monday’s match, have now gone viral across social media. Commenting on one such video, a Twitter user wrote, “Respect to the South Korean staff who play the national anthem of Hong Kong! #GloryToHongKong #standwithHongKong”.
https://twitter.com/afcbtw/status/1592141975209533445
Another person said, “Went to the EAAF Championship in Busan a few years ago, and saw Hong Kong v Japan. Sat with the HK fans, they booed and turned their backs to the Chinese national anthem that was played. I’m for one delighted that this ‘mistake’ was made and I suspect I’m far from alone”.
In a press release, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government condemned the incident and demanded an in-depth investigation into it. The HKSAR said it was informed by the organisers that the “National Anthem submitted by the coach of the Hong Kong Team was the correct one” and the “mistake was caused by human error of a junior staff”.
