Unlawful for Hong Kong musicians to use national anthem in artistic work, city’s mainland affairs chief says
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip says altering lyrics or creating parodies of March of the Volunteers would be an offence under proposed bill
It would be unlawful for Hong Kong musicians to use the national anthem in their artistic work under the government’s bill to criminalise insults to the song, the city’s constitutional and mainland affairs chief said on Saturday.
But Patrick Nip Tak-kuen argued this did not mean that Hongkongers’ artistic freedom would be compromised under the legislation.
Nip also said the proposed law would not “interfere” with the operation of local schools, as most of them were already required to teach their pupils to sing the anthem.
‘Foreword to Hong Kong’s national anthem law will promote patriotic spirit’
Under an outline released by the government, the bill will make it a criminal offence to “publicly and wilfully alter” the lyrics or score of March of the Volunteers, perform or sing it in “a distorted or derogatory” manner, or insult it in any other way. It will be punishable by a maximum fine of HK$50,000 (US$6,400) and three years in prison.
The bill will state that primary and secondary schools would need to teach pupils to sing and understand the history of the anthem, but legal experts questioned if this was necessary.
Speaking on a radio programme on Saturday, Nip was asked if, under the bill, songwriters would be allowed to rewrite the lyrics of the anthem.
