Lawmakers in Hong Kong have passed a controversial bill that will see insults against March of the Volunteers punishable by a fine of up to HK$50,000 (US$6,450) or three years in prison.
At the third reading of the bill on Thursday afternoon, 41 lawmakers in the Beijing-majority legislature voted in favor while one opposed. Pan-democrats boycotted the vote.
The meeting was briefly halted earlier in the day when pan-democrat lawmakers Eddie Chu and Ray Chan threw a brown, foul-smelling liquid onto the chamber floor. (They later said that it was biofertilizer.) Policemen and firefighters were called in to inspect the chamber as the pair addressed reporters outside.
“We will do our utmost to stop the third reading of the law, to stop the Communist party from continuing to use malicious laws to clamp down on Hong Kong people’s human rights and freedoms,” Chu told reporters, adding that “the regime stinks.”
Fellow pan-democrat legislator Ted Hui staged a similar disruption last week when he hurled a bag of “rotten plant” towards the chairperson’s seat.
The controversial law criminalizes playing the anthem “in a distorted or disrespectful way, with intent to insult.” It also forbids altering the anthem’s lyrics and its score. Critics say the ambiguity of the legislation could pave the way for arbitrary prosecution.
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In 2017, Beijing passed a decision demanding that Hong Kong adopt a national anthem law. Deliberations in Hong Kong’s legislature began in January 2019 but were repeatedly stalled by pan-democrats, who oppose the bill and see it as another threat to the city’s autonomy.
“The crux of the Bill is two-pronged: to state that the national anthem is the symbol and sign of the People’s Republic of China and to lead people to respect the national anthem by directional provisions; and to introduce penalties for people who publicly and intentionally insult the national anthem or misuse the national anthem,” a government statement from January 2019 read.
Over the years, Hong Kong football fans have repeatedly booed the anthem at matches as a show of protest against the Beijing government.
The passing of the bill comes at a sensitive time for Hong Kong. For the first time in three decades, the annual June 4 vigil commemorating the Tiananmen massacre will not take place this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Some fear that the national security law that Beijing is forcibly enacting in Hong Kong means the city may never mourn the tragedy again.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang dismissed concerns that the law would curtail freedom of speech.
“As long as people do not openly and deliberately insult the anthem, there’s no need to worry,” Tsang said.
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