Editorial | Judge is on the right side with his ruling on Hong Kong protest song
- Mr Justice Anthony Chan Kin-keung’s decision to deny a sweeping injunction not only underlines the independence of the judiciary but also challenges the government to come up with a more balanced approach on how to deal with illicit use of the fake national anthem ‘Glory to Hong Kong’
The protest song “Glory to Hong Kong,” prevalent on digital platforms since emerging in August 2019, is strongly associated with the civil unrest of that year. But a misconception has arisen among some that the song is the city’s “national anthem”.
The confusion has, regrettably, led to it wrongly being played, instead of China’s national anthem, at several international sporting events. There is a need for misunderstandings to be cleared up and for anyone using the song with criminal intent to know serious legal consequences can follow.
But the government’s unprecedented attempt to achieve this by seeking a sweeping court injunction banning illicit use of the song was rejected by a judge last week. The court had good reasons for its decision.
Mr Justice Anthony Chan Kin-keung said the injunction was unlikely to achieve its objective as it was not a blanket ban and overlapped with criminal offences.
Chan was concerned the court order would conflict with criminal laws, including the national security law, and have a chilling effect on the legitimate use of the song by innocent people. Such a ban would bring negative consequences for little, if any, benefit.
Injunctions were used during the anti-government protests of 2019. There were bans on demonstrating at the airport and interference with the MTR.
