The March of the Volunteers is the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. Booing of the anthem at Hong Kong football marches has previously embarrassed Beijing.
Macau enacted an anthem law in January 2019, but Hong Kong’s stalled amid political gridlock which later descended to violence. The government said it had a constitutional responsibility to enact the law quickly, and has declared it a priority.
It has denied the bill would suppress freedom of speech, and said an offence would occur only if someone expressed their views by publicly and intentionally insulted the national anthem.
Several days have been set aside for debate, and the vote is scheduled for 4 June – the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and another source of controversy given Hong Kong’s vigil this year will not be allowed.
Thousands joined an unauthorised protest on Sunday against both the anthem bill and Beijing’s plan to impose national security laws, which was quickly cracked down on by police.
Trump ‘displeased’ with proposed national security law
The protests come a day before the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament, is expected to approve the plan to bypass Hong Kong’s legislature to impose a national security law on the city, where similar legislation was shelved after it caused mass protests in 2003.
Hong Kong media reported on Wednesday that Beijing had expanded the scope of the draft security law legislation to target organisations as well as individuals, according to the public broadcaster RTHK and the South China Morning Post..
The US president, Donald Trump, on Tuesday warned he would take action against China if it imposed the laws. Trump did not say if it involved sanctions or changes to the city’s special trading status but his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said he was “displeased”, and it was “hard to see how Hong Kong can remain a financial hub if China takes over”.
Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, has said her government would come up with measures to help Hong Kong residents, fearing for their safety under the new law, relocate to Taiwan.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, said on Wednesday afternoon that his country would take “all necessary countermeasures” against foreign interference.
The commander of the People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong said earlier this week his troops – estimated to number around 10,000 – stood ready to “safeguard” Chinese sovereignty and support national security laws.
Source: The Guardian