Hong Kong weightlifting body expresses ‘deepest regret’ for official implying city, Taiwan are countries in speech
- Hong Kong, China Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association issues public apology over remarks made by chairwoman Josephine Ip
- It was not the first time Ip has implied Hong Kong is a country, while the association was caught up in Glory to Hong Kong scandal in 2022
The Hong Kong, China Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association (HKWPA) has issued a public apology after its chairwoman again implied the city and Taiwan were countries in their own right.
Saturday’s statement, which was published online, said there had been a miscommunication because Josephine Ip Wing-yuk’s pre-written speech for the opening ceremony at last week’s Asian Equipped Championship and Asian University Cup had not been updated after a country dropped out.
The association said it deeply opposed Hong Kong independence and acts of secession, and expressed it’s “deepest regret to the public” for the error during Ip’s remarks at the event at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai.
According to the governing body, Ip’s initial speech had included the line: “This time, we have lifters and officials from 16 countries/regions including China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Thailand.”
Ip reportedly noticed that number was incorrect and also believed the sentence to be too long, so shortened it too: “This time, we have lifters and officials from 13 countries.”
But this was not the first time Ip has been forced to apologise. In March, she called the city a “relatively small country” during her opening speech at the Hong Kong Weightlifting Invitational.
