A total of 65 Chinese mainland Olympians, including 59 gold medalists from the Paris 2024 Olympics, started their three-day visit to Hong Kong on Thursday. At the just concluded Games, the Chinese national team achieved its best-ever performance at an overseas Olympics, finishing second in the medal tally with 40 golds.

Although Hong Kong is part of China, owing to the “one country, two systems” arrangement and the city’s history, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region competes separately from the Chinese mainland at the Olympics. The HKSAR did well in Paris, clinching four medals, including two gold medals. However, the visit of mainland athletes to Hong Kong provides a special opportunity to forge national unity and pride.

First of all, it is a reminder that although China’s national team and the HKSAR team compete separately, it is OK for Hong Kong residents to also take pride in the national team because ultimately, Hong Kong is part of China. Whether it be for the mainland, or simply the special administrative region itself, it is arguably true that all athletes who are participating in the Olympics are competing on behalf of the wider Chinese nation, and there is pride to be had in this.

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Therefore, while mainland residents should take pride in Hong Kong’s achievements, likewise, those who live in Hong Kong should also learn to identify with and take pride in the achievements of the country as a whole. This is about forming a harmonious relationship between the two. While Hong Kong is a part of China that has a great economic and cultural status, we should remind ourselves that this is all complimentary to the Chinese nation. Hong Kong may have unique qualities, but it is not a “competitor” or “rival” to the mainland in any sense.

This visit subsequently sends this important message: Over the past few years, Hong Kong has been wrestling with political challenges from those who believe that the city should be completely exclusive, independent, and antagonistic to the mainland. This “Hong Kong separatism” sought to use the issue of suffrage, backed by foreign powers, to reject affiliation with the mainland altogether and deny the city’s status as part of China. I remember during the peak of the riots in 2019 when I visited the city, there were some steps on a footbridge that were painted with the names of cities that had hosted Olympic Games, symbolically commemorating each of the Olympic games from the beginning. I noted that the rioters had vandalized “Beijing 2008” and sprayed it out, as if it doesn’t exist.

I also remember how the rioters sought to burn and desecrate China’s national flags, how they sought to derail any events and images depicting the handover of the city back to China, how they waved imperial-era Hong Kong flags, and so on. It was undeniable that those advocating the unrest had an overwhelming hatred of any association with China, and they were fueled by great prejudice. Even when I made the poor decision of working with a British National Overseas (BNO) Hong Kong activist back in the United Kingdom this August, one of the first questions posed to me was whether my hometown in England had “many Chinese mainlanders present”. This perversive hatred has been an overriding theme of the unrest, and it is far less honorable than depicted.

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Therefore, the visit of mainland athletes to Hong Kong offers a perfect opportunity to enhance mutual understanding and national pride to remember that the city is also part of the country, and there is no shame in taking pride in their achievements. While we take pride in Hong Kong’s own accomplishments, its own greatness, and its own rich contributions to the world, thus it is a “special region”, we must always remember it is a sovereign part of China, that it is built upon Chinese culture and that it should exist in harmony with the rest of the country rather than being weaponized as an enemy to it.

In a nutshell, sportsmanship is a good opportunity for promoting ties, goodwill and unity.

The author is a British political and international relations analyst.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.