Global Courant
The government cites ‘national security’ in banning the popular song Glory to Hong Kong during the 2019 protests.
Hong Kong has gone to court to ban the song Glory to Hong Kong, which became the unofficial anthem of the 2019 mass protests and has since been mistakenly played in place of the Chinese national anthem at several sporting events.
The Hong Kong Ministry of Justice said it had applied for a court order to ban the performance, broadcast, sale or distribution of the song – including on the internet – for reasons of national security, because it had been “falsely” presented as the the area’s anthem “repeatedly”.
As a Chinese territory, Hong Kong does not have its own national anthem, but China’s March of the Volunteers.
“This has not only offended the national anthem, but also caused serious harm to the country and the HKSAR,” it said in a statement Tuesday, referring to Hong Kong’s official name, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The court order would mean anyone associated with the song could be prosecuted for “secession” under the national security law, which was imposed in 2020, or the colonial-era sedition law.
The composer of Glory to Hong Kong remains anonymous, but the Cantonese-language song emerged as an appeal during the 2019 protests with the lyrics “Break the dawn now, liberate us Hong Kong; in common breath, revolution of our time,” echoing the demonstrators and calling for change.
The song was played to a stunned Hong Kong team at a rugby tournament in South Korea last November. It was also played at an international ice hockey game and at an Asian powerlifting event.
Sarah Brooks, the head of Amnesty International’s China team, called the latest move “absurd”.
“The Hong Kong government must end its increasingly ardent crackdown on freedom of expression,” Brooks said in a statement. “A song is not a threat to national security, and national security should not be used as an excuse to deny people the right to express different political views.”
Hong Kong authorities have also called on Google to remove Glory to Hong Kong from its search results, but the tech company has refused to comply.
