Staff reprimanded after Chinese flag is raised upside down outside liaison office in Hong Kong
- Error is quickly corrected and office apologises, but not before images go viral on social media
The Chinese flag flying upside down outside Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong on Friday raised eyebrows across a city that often gets caught up in heated debate over the need to respect national symbols.
An official who did not want to be named told the Post it was a mistake by a member of staff and apologised for it, but not before photos of the upside-down flag were circulated online, inviting ridicule and speculation.
“We have seriously reprimanded the staff member, and we would like to thank the Hong Kong society for their concern,” the official said. “We will improve our management to make sure that this will not happen again.”
Two pictures, which showed an inverted Chinese five-star red flag flying outside the liaison office in the Western District, were posted on a Facebook page at about 7am on Friday.
“Inverted national flag. What happened? A special occasion?” The internet user who posted the photo wrote in a caption.
By 2pm on Friday, the post had attracted about 300 comments and some 2,800 responses, including 1,500 “haha” messages and about 1,000 likes.