This Aug 21, 2019 photo shows Hong Kong Police Headquarters in Hong Kong. (MAO SIQIAN / XINHUA)
HONG KONG – Police in Hong Kong have launched investigating the playing of a song closely associated with the city’s 2019 social unrest at a rugby match in South Korea on Sunday.
The Organised Crime and Triad Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force is dealing with the case, the government said in a statement early on Tuesday.
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Police will take follow-up actions seriously in accordance with the law on whether the incident has breached the National Anthem Ordinance or any other legislation of Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong National Security Law.
Hong Kong Police Force
“Police will take follow-up actions seriously in accordance with the law on whether the incident has breached the National Anthem Ordinance or any other legislation of Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong National Security Law,” the statement reads.
The song which was played at the final match between Hong Kong and South Korea of the second leg of the Asian Rugby Seven Series in Incheon was closely associated with violent protests and the so-called "independence" movement in 2019 during a session that the National Anthem of the People’s Republic of China should have been played.
In addition, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said he had expressed opposition to the incident.
Speaking to the media ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, he said he had expressed opposition to the broadcast of the social unrest-related song at the rugby tournament.
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Stressing that it was the organizer’s responsibility to play the national anthem properly, Lee said he would ask the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to look into the issue to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.