Hong Kong teen sentenced to 3 years’ detention for parodying national anthem and mocking flag in online videos
- Chui Hoi-chun has been sentenced over 29 offensive posts published on YouTube, Discord and the LIHKG forum in a span of 28 months
- Part-time waiter’s posts trampled on country’s dignity and hurt people’s feelings, says magistrate
An 18-year-old has received up to three years’ detention in a Hong Kong correctional institution for parodying “March of the Volunteers” on social media in the second conviction under the national anthem law, as well as for charges of insulting the country’s flag and publishing seditious remarks.
Part-time waiter Chui Hoi-chun was sentenced in West Kowloon Court on Tuesday to a training centre over 29 offensive posts published on YouTube, Discord and the LIHKG forum in a span of 28 months between May 2020 and September this year.
Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak said Chui had incited hatred towards mainland China, the city’s administration and police with his “anti-government” posts, adding he had trampled on the country’s dignity and hurt the feelings of the people with his mockery of the national anthem and flag.
An arbiter approved by the city’s leader to oversee national security proceedings, So pointed out that a deterrent sentence was required to prevent copycat behaviour and safeguard the public interest.
Chui pleaded guilty last month to a charge of committing seditious acts, two of insulting the national anthem and one of publishing a desecration of the national flag.
Prosecutors held Chui liable for exposing the national anthem to ridicule in two posts on LIHKG on May 28, 2020, after the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, passed a motion to impose a national security law on the city.
One of the spoofs contained altered lyrics which the prosecution said were insulting to mainland leaders.
The first line of the Chinese national anthem – “Stand up! Those who refuse to be slaves! With our flesh and blood, let’s build our newest Great Wall!” – was changed to “Late! I’ll take you around the world! I ride on the Godzilla, and my mum says I’m really a freak!”.
The other version, also posted on the forum, had the original wording almost entirely replaced with Cantonese curses.
In September of the same year, Chui released a video on YouTube showing a red background with five swear words in the top left corner, which were aligned in a way resembling the five yellow stars on the Chinese national flag. The clip also featured a man singing an altered version of “March of the Volunteers”, marred by vulgar language.
Defence counsel Steven Kwan Man-wai earlier argued the national anthem ordinance and the amended national flag and national emblem ordinance, which outlaws desecration of the country’s symbols on online platforms, could not be used to prosecute his client, as the publications in question were made before the two laws came into force.
The lawyer also questioned the court’s jurisdiction in relation to eight of the 29 social media posts in contention, saying they were published while Chui was studying in New Zealand.
But the chief magistrate ruled last month the defendant had continued to make available the offensive content even after his return to the city, adding the court had jurisdiction over all of the problematic publications as they were intended for the Hong Kong audience.
In mitigation, Kwan urged the court to consider sending Chui to a correctional institution, such as a rehabilitation or detention centre, for a short term.
But So found the two alternative options, where offenders are detained for less than a year, to be insufficient in light of the gravity of the transgressions.
The magistrate also highlighted Chui’s psychological report, where a clinical psychologist said the 18-year-old had supported the anti-government protests in 2019 and still believed violence should not be condemned if it could achieve its intended purpose.
A training centre, which is another form of correctional institution, offers vocational training and educational programmes in a custodial setting.
An offender sentenced to such a facility can serve time for six months to three years, with an average of 1½ years.
Insulting the national anthem or national flag is punishable by three years imprisonment and a HK$50,000 (HK$6,430) fine. Sedition carries a maximum jail sentence of two years upon a first conviction.
