Anthem bill passes amid high tensions
HONG KONG • Hong Kong passed a bill on Thursday that would criminalize disrespect of China’s national anthem, a move critics see as the latest sign of Beijing’s tightening grip on the semi-autonomous city.
The move comes just days after Chinese authorities gave the green light to move ahead with a national security law, which Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia, as well as international human rights groups, say will erode freedoms in the global financial hub.
The national anthem bill orders that primary and secondary school students in Hong Kong be taught to sing the “March of the Volunteers,” along with its history and etiquette.
It carries penalties of up to three years jail as well as fines of up to $8,700 for those who insult it. The anthem has been booed at football matches, where soccer fans have at times sang “Glory to Hong Kong,” a song that has become a rallying cry for the democracy movement in the city.
Earlier, police and firefighters entered the city’s legislature after two pro-democracy lawmakers threw foul-smelling liquid to protest against the “murderous” crackdown by Chinese troops in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 31 years ago.
The disruption came after pro-establishment lawmakers vetoed most amendments to the anthem bill proposed by democrats.
Lawmakers Eddie Chu and Ray Chan rushed to the front of the chamber and splashed the reeking fluid as guards grappled with them. Police and firefighters later arrived on the scene.
“A murderous state stinks forever. What we did today is to remind the world that we should never forgive the Chinese Communist Party for killing its own people 31 years ago,” Chu said later, before he and Chan were removed from the chamber.
Another pro-democracy lawmaker was removed later in the day. The vote passed.
The Tiananmen Square anniversary struck an especially sensitive nerve in the former British-ruled city this year after the passage of the anthem bill and China’s move last month to impose national security legislation.
Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of China’s 1989 Tiananmen democracy crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too.
It was the first time there had been unrest during the annual Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong, which police had prohibited this year, citing the coronavirus crisis.
Meanwhile, a few thousand people joined a peaceful rally in the city’s central Victoria Park, many wearing masks and chanting slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time” and “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”
Chinese authorities and the Beijing-backed government in Hong Kong say there is no threat to the city’s high degree of autonomy from the proposed new security law.