Hong Kong officials have called for an investigation after a rugby match where a protest song was played instead of the Chinese national anthem.
The city said it “strongly deplores … the airing of a song associated with ‘violent protests”.
The song, Glory to Hong Kong, is considered the unofficial anthem of the pro-democracy movement of 2019.
And it has become increasingly controversial under Beijing’s tight grip on the city.
The song’s lyrics refer to “tears over our land” and “democracy and freedom”.
Although Hong Kong officials did not name the song, videos from Sunday’s match scene have been widely shared online.
The song can be heard ahead of a match between Hong Kong and South Korea in the Asia Rugby Sevens, an annual regional tournament. Players don’t seem to react to the song.
According to a government statement, the organisers said the mistake was caused “by human error by junior staff” and that the Hong Kong team’s coach submitted the wrong song.
A government spokesperson said they wrote to the Hong Kong Rugby Union on Sunday evening, asking them to “deal seriously with this matter and launch a full and thorough investigation”.
He said the Hong Kong team noticed the mistake, and the Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers, was played at the awards ceremony after Hong Kong won the final.
The Hong Kong Rugby Union expressed its “extreme dissatisfaction” with the incident on Monday. He also said that the organisers, Asia Rugby, have “expressed their sincere apologies and assured us that this will not happen again”.
Hong Kong now has a law against violating the Chinese national anthem. It was enacted in 2020 after years of the Chinese anthem being booed at football matches.
Glory to Hong Kong has not been banned in the city. Still, earlier this year, a man who played it along with several songs outside the British Consulate on his harmonica was arrested for committing an “act with seditious intent”.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and is meant to be governed under the “one country, two systems” principle, which preserves freedoms in the city that the mainland does not have.
But China’s influence has grown in recent years, especially following substantial pro-democracy protests.
The tipping point was in 2019 when Beijing proposed an extradition bill that allowed Hong Kongers to be tried in China. Anger over the bill has erupted into some of the biggest protests the city has ever seen.
China cracked down with a controversial national security law in 2020 that criminalized any act of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Beijing insists the law is necessary for stability, but critics say its vague definition makes it easier to stifle protests and free speech. Hundreds of protesters, activists and former opposition MPs have been arrested since the law was introduced