Asian Games: Indonesian fans told to drop ‘China’ when shouting support for Hong Kong in badminton final
The Hong Kong pair of Tang and Tse settle for silver after losing in the badminton mixed doubles final to China’s Zheng and Huang
The arena was half-full as Hong Kong’s silver medallists, Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet, prepared for their Asian Games badminton mixed doubles final against eventual winners Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, of China, on Monday.
With no home players to support, two female Indonesian fans decided to back Tang and Tse. “Hong Kong, China! Hong Kong, China! Hong Kong China!” they screamed, using the city’s official name for sporting events.
Just then, a Hongkonger sitting one row below in the stands turned around and said to them: “You only need to say ‘Hong Kong’. You don’t need the ‘China’.”
“Hong Kong is controlled by China, so you have to say ‘Hong Kong, China’,” said another Indonesian fan behind them – to which one of the women replied: “But he said it’s just ‘Hong Kong’.”
Before Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, one of the biggest sticking points in sporting negotiations was the territory's name after the handover. Hong Kong officials wanted it to stay as “Hong Kong” but China insisted on “Hong Kong, China”.