Hong Kong soccer fans finally return — and boo the Chinese national anthem

On Saturday, Hong Kong hosted Myanmar in an international soccer friendly, the first time that fans have been allowed in the stadium to watch the national team since November 19, 2019.

And what made headlines? Not the 0-0 final score, or the announced attendance of 12,264, but recordings of fans booing and jeering the Chinese national anthem during pregame.

Clip originally via @Kinwachan1024

The act of defiance comes after the Hong Kong legislature criminalized insulting the Chinese national anthem. The pro-Beijing legislature passed the law in June 2020, with violators facing up to three years in jail and a fine of up to HKD$5,000 ($640).

Hong Kong soccer fans have a history of using the pregame national anthem as an opportunity to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with Beijing.

In 2015, the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) was fined by FIFA “after fans booed the Chinese national anthem and threw an object on the pitch during a World Cup qualifier last month,” according to Reuters. Fines were incurred during consecutive games in 2019, again for fans booing the Chinese national anthem.

On Saturday, some fans also chanted “We are Hong Kong.” In response, the Hong Kong police brought out cameras and began filming the crowd.

The 0-0 draw provided much less entertainment. These same two teams played last Wednesday, to an empty Mongkok Stadium: Hong Kong won that one 2-0.

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Shanghai back on the F1 calendar

Formula One released the 2023 race calendar last week, with Shanghai tentatively placed in the schedule. The Chinese Grand Prix has been absent from F1 for three years, after the race was canceled in 2019 following the outbreak of COVID.

Currently, the series is scheduled to visit the Shanghai International Circuit on April 16. Whether it will happen remains to be seen. China has yet to fully return to international sports due to strict COVID-zero measures. The first major international sporting event to be hosted since the Beijing Winter Olympics will be the World Table Tennis Team Championships, set to be hosted in a bubble in Chengdu on September 30.

China was also included in the F1 calendar preview last year before ultimately being taken off. Although F1 extended its contract with the Shanghai International Circuit last year, there has been speculation that authorities in the sport have lost patience with China and want to permanently move the race to one of many circuits waiting in the wings.

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Other Stories:

Youthful China look towards future after impressive showing at World Surfer Games (Olympics)

China’s Zheng Qinwen looks set to be next big thing in tennis (Japan Times)

World Table Tennis Team Championships: Little enthusiasm in a table-tennis-crazy China (DW)

LIV Golf to air via Weibo in China as part of extensive digital tie-up (Sports Pro Media)

The China Sports Column runs every week.