Hong Kong police investigate booing of Chinese anthem during Tokyo Games | Globalism

Fans gathered in a mall to watch Edgar Cheung win a gold medal for Hong Kong in fencing.

At the medal ceremony, some fans booed the Chinese national anthem – which was played after the gold medal was awarded – and chanted “We are Hong Kong,” which was broadcast on television.

We are Hong Kong It is a song usually sung by football fans in Hong Kong and Cantonese – the majority language in the territory and other parts of southern China. In Beijing, the seat of Chinese power, Mandarin is spoken.

Hong Kong authorities loyal to Beijing enacted new laws last year banning any insult to the national anthem and the Chinese flag.Remember in the video below). This week, a local court indicted a person for the first time under this law.

With a week of Olympics, Hong Kong has the best performance at the Olympics with Edgar Cheung winning a gold in fencing and two silvers in swimming with Siobhan Hogi.

But the sporting success coincides with difficult times for the former British colony, which was reintegrated into China in 1997. The Asian power imposed a violent crackdown on political opponents in response to the massive and violent pro-democracy demonstrations two years earlier.

Hong Kong, China and Chinese Taipei

Since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Hong Kong has been competing under the name “Hong Kong, China”. The reason is the transfer of control of the semi-autonomous territory, formerly British, to Beijing, three years before the Olympic Games in Australia.

In addition to Hong Kong, Taiwanese athletes compete in the Olympic Games under the name “Chinese Taipei” – a reference to the island’s capital.

The reason for this is that the Taiwanese government recognizes itself as the legitimate representative of all of China, so much so that the official name is the “Republic of China”. But Beijing is vetoing that designation. Thus, the solution reached in the 1980s was to adopt the name “Chinese Taipei”.