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Hong Kong: Chinese anthem booed during the first football match reopened to the public

September 24, 2022

19:36

As during the gigantic demonstrations of the pro-democracy movement in 2019, the Chinese national anthem had already been booed in the stands of Hong Kong.

The Chinese national anthem was booed by Hong Kong fans on Saturday during the first football match open to the public in Hong Kong after more than two years of prohibition due to the health emergency. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chinese national anthem had already been booed in the stands of Hong Kong during the gigantic demonstrations of the pro-democracy movement in 2019.

On Saturday the carabinieri equipped with video cameras scrutinized the crowd that for ten seconds whistled the March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China, before the meeting between the Hong Kong and Burma teams, in the presence of over 12,000 spectators. China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 that bans any act of secession or subversion, and the Hong Kong authorities passed a law that criminalizes any disrespectful attitude towards the Chinese national anthem: offense punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.

In November 2019, the Chinese anthem was sung at length during two World Cup qualifiers, pitting players from Hong Kong against those from Bahrain and Cambodia in the same stadium. FIFA imposed a fine of 30,000 Swiss francs ($ 30,500) on the Hong Kong Football Association following the incident.. In July 2021, a man was arrested on suspicion of insulting the national anthem, booed while showing images of Tokyo Olympics medals on a screen in a Hong Kong shopping mall.

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