HK legislature passes national anthem bill amid protests

Opponents say the law is the latest move by Beijing to snuff out the city’s cherished freedoms and have rallied around the symbolism of the law being passed on the anniversary of Tiananmen

Hong Kong’s legislature voted for a Beijingbacked law banning insults to China’s national anthem on Thursday, a move critics say further stifles dissent in the restless semi-autonomous financial hub.

Lawmakers approved the bill with 41 in favour and one against, but the chamber’s pro-democracy faction refused to cast their votes and instead shouted slogans denouncing the law.

The vote came as Hong Kongers mark the 31st anniversary of China sending tanks and troops to crush pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen square.

Beijing has been infuriated by Hong Kongers − especially football fans − booing the national anthem to signal dissatisfaction with China’s rule.

The new law, which needs to be signed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, criminalises insults to the national anthem with up to three years in jail and fines.

The city’s pro-democracy opposition say the bill is a fresh attempt to criminalise dissent and fights have broken out between rival lawmakers over the legislation.

Thursday’s vote was delayed after a lawmaker threw a jar of foul-smelling fertiliser in the legislative chamber to protest China’s refusal to acknowledge the Tiananmen crackdown.

The debate was later moved to a different room and the bill was swiftly passed.

Hong Kong marked China’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown on Thursday, with candle-light ceremonies planned across the city after authorities banned a mass vigil at a time of seething anger over a planned new security law.

The commemorations fell on another febrile day of political tension in the semi-autonomous city as lawmakers approved a Beijing-backed bill criminalising insults to China’s national anthem.

Pro-democracy politicians refused to cast their ballots with one throwing a foul-smelling liquid on the floor in a bid to halt proceedings and others shouting slogans as the votes were cast.

Opponents say the law is the latest move by Beijing to snuff out the city’s cherished freedoms and have rallied around the symbolism of the law being passed on the anniversary of Tiananmen.

Open discussion of the brutal suppression is forbidden in mainland China where hundreds − by some estimates more than a thousand − died when the Communist Party sent tanks into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 to crush a student-led demonstration calling for democratic reforms.

But this year’s service was banned on public health grounds because of the coronavirus pandemic with barricades surrounding Victoria Park, the traditional ceremony venue, and police patrolling nearby.

Organisers have called for residents to instead light candles of remembrance wherever they are.

“I don’t believe it’s because of the pandemic. I think it’s political suppression,” a 53-year-old man surnamed Wong, said after kneeling by the park barricades to pay respects to the dead.

“I do worry that we may lose this vigil forever.” On the campus of Hong Kong University, students spent the afternoon cleaning a memorial to the Tiananmen dead known as “The Pillar of Shame.”

Crowds have swelled at Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigils whenever fears have spiked that Beijing is prematurely stamping out the city’s own cherished freedoms, an issue that has dominated the finance hub for the past 12 months.

The city was engulfed by seven straight months of huge and often violent pro-democracy protests last year − rallies that kicked off five days after the last annual vigil.

In response to those demonstrations last month Beijing announced plans to impose the security law, which would cover secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and foreign interference.

China says the law − which will bypass Hong Kong’s legislature − is needed to tackle “terrorism” and “separatism” in a restless city it now regards as a direct national security threat.

Opponents, including many Western nations, fear it will bring mainland-style political oppression to a business hub supposedly guaranteed freedoms and autonomy for 50 years after the 1997 handover from Britain.

With the Victoria Park vigil banned, Hong Kongers are organising locally and getting creative, chiefly with the scattered candle-light ceremonies.