Chinese national anthem

Fourteen-year-old Chak-lam arrived at Admiralty, the political heart of Hong Kong, on the morning of May 27 and found herself all alone. She had heard the call, the night before, for protesters to besiege Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and block lawmakers from scrutinizing a bill that would penalize anyone who insulted China’s national anthem. Instead of seeing demonstrators like herself, Chak-lam found a large number of police officers who allowed only authorized staff and journalists through checkpoints. The tight security cordon was nothing like the scene almost a year ago on June 12, 2019, when thousands of protesters blocked roads and surrounded the legislature, also known as Legco, to

Hong Kong’s legislature has passed a contentious bill that will make it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem, despite attempts by opposition lawmakers to disrupt the vote. The Legislative Council voted 41 to one to pass the legislation on Thursday after foul-smelling liquid was twice released in the chamber and all but one of the city’s “pan-democrat” bloc stood up and abstained from voting in protest. Under the bill, anyone found guilty of misusing or insulting March of the Volunteers, the name of China's anthem, could be jailed for three years or fined up to $6,500. A special administrative region of China that enjoys a degree of autonomy, Hong Kong operates independently in matte

At 21 years old, Yang Kaili is one of China’s biggest internet stars. First coming to fame live-streaming her singing, she was reportedly signed by a video site for $7 million (50 million yuan). This summer, she released her first record and performed on national television. Online, she racked up as many followers as the hottest YouTube channels. And she achieved all this in the span of a year. But her stardom and her budding singing career are now in tatters after a performance went wrong. Yang has been detained for five days and banished from video streaming sites where she had some 50 million followers combined. Her crime? Singing the Chinese national anthem in a “disrespectful” way while

If you protest during “The Star-Spangled Banner” in America, you get angry comments on social media or an angry tweet from the president. But if you do the same with China's “March of the Volunteers,” you may be jailed for up to three years. This penalty, implemented in mainland China last year, may now be coming to Hong Kong, a former British colony with a separate legal system. On Friday, the Hong Kong government formally presented this proposal to lawmakers, who are expected to pass it without difficulty. Tension between Hongkongers wanting greater democracy and the Chinese government has steadily risen in recent years. Protests against the Chinese national anthem in Hong Kong made intern