A Hong Kong resident takes a photo of the display of national and HKSAR flags in the city on Oct 1, 2022. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – There has been another bungle at an overseas sporting event when a song associated with the 2019 social unrest in Hong Kong was played instead of the Chinese national anthem.

The latest incident occurred on Friday at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, after weightlifter Susanna Lin of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region clinched the gold medal.

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The HKSAR government on Saturday expressed strong opposition to the latest bungle in Dubai

Lin, who won the Women Classic event (47 kilograms for all ages), made a “T” sign with her hands to signal there was a problem, and the correct Chinese national anthem was played later. 

The HKSAR government on Saturday expressed strong opposition to the latest bungle in Dubai.

In a statement, it acknowledged the prompt action taken by the city’s team members in safeguarding the nation’s dignity. The SAR attaches great importance to the incident and has asked the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China – the SAR’s sports self-regulatory body, to submit a report and take strict follow-up action, it said.     

The SF&OC said it has demanded for an explanation from the Hong Kong Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association, and asked for a report to be submitted on the incident.

The HKWPA said it had provided the correct version of the national anthem, including the correct name, and the size of Hong Kong’s regional flag, to the Global Association of International Sports Federations and relevant Asian counterparts. The association also said it had, according to the city’s newly-released guidelines, received a toolkit with the correct national anthem and the HKSAR regional flag on Nov 28, before heading for Dubai. 

The SF&OC has requested that SAR's powerlifting association ask the organizer and the Asian Powerlifting Federation to investigate the latest blunder and submit a report.  

The SF&OC said Lin and her team leader had dealt with the incident appropriately and informed the organizer to rectify the mistake within a short time. 

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The SF&OC had earlier issued guidelines to the SAR’s 82 sports groups for athletes and coaches to deal with similar situations when playing overseas. Under the guidelines, Hong Kong team members would use their hands to display a “T” sign to halt an event when errors occur during the playing of the Chinese national anthem or the raising of the HKSAR regional flag. They could also boycott the game if necessary. 

The new guidelines followed a series of similar mix-ups recently during the playing of the national anthem at Hong Kong rugby team matches abroad. The incidents sparked a public outcry when a song closely linked to the 2019 protests in the SAR was played instead of the Chinese national anthem at matches in South Korea and Dubai.