World champion Sarah Lee reopens social media page three months after being criticised for controversial comments
- Fans support Lee for embracing freedom of speech and speaking out for Hong Kong
- Some say she has no right to represent Hong Kong because of her support for protesters
Track cycling ace Sarah Lee Wai-sze reopened the social media page she closed three months ago after being accused of making political comments supporting anti-government protesters.
On 2019 National Day, the reigning world champion posted on Facebook that “We have to be careful to avoid the rain today. If you don’t bring an umbrella, you better go home early”.
Many netizens interpreted it as supporting the anti-government movement as there was no rain that day. They accused Lee of supporting protesters who took to the streets trying to upstage Beijing’s National Day celebrations on October 1. In June, she also posted the Chinese words for “Add Oil”, which can be interpreted as “Come On”, a common phrase used by many protesters.
Lee, who is also studying for a professional and creative writing degree at Baptist University, said when reopening the page: “Please forgive me for closing the page for three months which involved a lot of different reasons, among the biggest was that I did not want to see people abusing each other on the page, especially among Hong Kong people.