Why Hong Kong is criminalising a song

ON JULY 5TH Cheng Wing-chun, a 27-year-old Hong Konger, became the first person in the territory to be convicted of insulting China’s national anthem. Mr Cheng posted a 94-second video to YouTube of a local athlete receiving a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, in which he substituted “March of the Volunteers”, China’s national anthem, with “Glory to Hong Kong”, a popular pro-democracy anthem. His conviction is a sign of things to come: Hong Kong’s government wants to silence the song for good. A civil injunction, filed by the territory’s Department of Justice (DoJ) in June, is pending. If it is granted— which it probably will be—the melody, lyrics and any adaptations of “Glory” will be banned; disseminating it will become illegal. Even whistling the tune could get Hong Kongers in trouble. Why are Hong Kong’s authorities clamping down on “Glory” now—and what will be the implications of the ban?