Hong Kong
CNN
–
A woman who waved a British colonial-era flag in celebration of Hong Kong has become an Olympic gold claimant, becoming the city’s first person jailed for insulting China’s national anthem.
Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported that Paula Leung, a 42-year-old online journalist, pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to three months in prison on Thursday.
Leung, who said she has autism and a learning disability, said in a relieving me, that she was waving the flag in a mall as a large screen was showing the medal ceremony after Edgar Cheung’s win in foil at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
Large crowds gathered to celebrate what was Hong Kong’s second-ever Olympic gold medal and first in fencing, but the scene turned boisterous when the Chinese national anthem was played for the awards ceremony and some people started booing.
Hong Kong, the former British colony, continues to represent itself separately against China at the Olympic Games despite being handed over to China in 1997.
Cheung’s victory was seen by many as a breakthrough for Hong Kong athletes and a rare moment of loneliness in a city rocked by anti-government protests in recent years.
But the use of the Chinese national anthem – the “March of Volunteers” – to celebrate his victory was controversial because it was the first time the anthem had been used at an Olympic medal ceremony for an athlete from Hong Kong. When Lee Lai Shan took Hong Kong’s only other gold, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, “God Save the Queen” was played and the British colonial flag for Hong Kong was raised.
Pro-democracy protesters in the city sometimes used symbols from the British colonial era to celebrate the challenge Against mainland China’s increasingly tight grip on the semi-autonomous city.
Protesters often waved a colonial-era flag at pro-democracy demonstrations that took place across the city in 2019, while some thousands of Hong Kong residents lined up outside the British Consulate to pay their respects to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II after her death in September saw their actions as Subtle form of protest.
Public gatherings have been rare since China imposed a national security law in June 2020 to quell powerful pro-democracy protests.
That same month, local authorities in Hong Kong passed legislation making insulting the Chinese national anthem a crime punishable by up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of $6,400 (HK$50,000).
The legislation requires people to “stand up seriously and carry themselves away with dignity” when playing or singing the “March of Volunteers.”
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