As pro-democracy protesters marched through the streets of Hong Kong in 2019, Nathan Lo could hear pro-democracy songs everywhere he went.
At the time, Mr. Lo was perhaps Hong Kong's most high-profile democracy activist. He rose to prominence as one of the student leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, which opposed plans to allow the Chinese government to veto political candidates in Hong Kong.
He then co-founded a new political party and became Hong Kong's youngest elected lawmaker, but was subsequently arrested along with other pro-democracy politicians on vague charges of not properly taking the oath of office. He was disqualified from being a member of parliament.
But when violence returned in 2019 and the streets were once again filled with protesters, another, more unusual crucible of resistance came to the fore. It was a football stadium.
During the Hong Kong national soccer team's matches, the dissatisfaction on the streets was louder than anywhere else. Hong Kong is officially a “special administrative region” of China, so supporters booed when the Chinese national anthem was played on behalf of Hong Kong.
Instead, supporters were to sing an alternative song associated with the protest movement, “Glory to Hong Kong.”
“The soccer culture in Hong Kong is that people support the national team as a way to show their dissatisfaction with the government, so when the Chinese national anthem was played, people simply stood up and booed to express their dissatisfaction,” Lo said. . He is both a soccer fan and an activist.
Support for the national team is also strong in Hong Kong, where there is a return to politics that emphasizes local identity, especially the uniqueness of Hong Kong's identity, he said. “There is a correlation between sports and politics, because at the end of the day, if you are going to create a unique people, you need an identity, you need a myth, you need something to solidify them. …The national team is part of the nation-building process.”
But there were no boos when the Hong Kong team faced Palestine in Doha on Tuesday night in a close game to qualify for the 2024 Asian Cup finals.
Palestine won 3-0, ending Hong Kong's participation in the tournament, but both the national team and the political environment were very different from 2019. One of them is that the team is now officially playing under a different name, China Hong Kong.
“Xenophobia” riot
When Hong Kong was handed over from Britain to China in 1997 at the end of its 99-year lease, there was widespread anxiety about what the future held. China has pledged to maintain Hong Kong's status as a “special administrative region” for the next 50 years, as long as Hong Kong is irrevocably recognized as Chinese territory under the “one country, two systems” principle.
The result has been an uneasy tension between Hong Kong's more pluralistic and liberal democratic system and the far more authoritarian model practiced on the mainland. When two national soccer teams met in a match, it was an inevitable tension that became public.
The most infamous match of all time was the “May 19 Incident”, so-called because it occurred on May 19, 1985, during Mexico's 1986 match against Hong Kong and China, an important World Cup qualifier.
Hong Kong is still a British colony, and when the team defeated China 2-1 in front of 80,000 fans at Beijing's Workers' Stadium, they flew the colonial-era flag and sang “Her Majesty the Queen” as the national anthem. I used “Banzai”.
Hong Kong players were unable to leave the stadium for two hours after an anti-foreigner riot broke out.
“Hong Kong victory sparks riots: Angry crowd petrifies foreigners,” read the headline in the South China Morning Post. “Half a brick and a broken bottle” rained down on the pitch, they wrote.
A Chinese team bus and a Japanese taxi overturned outside the stadium. A further 130 vehicles were destroyed. The loss to Hong Kong was so disappointing that both the Chinese coach and the FA president resigned. It was called “The Siege of the Workers' Stadium.”
Low was not yet born and was a baby when Hong Kong defeated China on penalties in the 1995 regional tournament. This victory was also a famous but rare victory for Hong Kong against China. But he grew up with soccer and saw its growing political power in Hong Kong, especially when it came to the national anthem issue.
Since 1997, China's “Volunteer March” has also been Hong Kong's official national anthem. Hong Kong fans booed their country's national anthem when both teams were drawn into the same group again for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and met twice in 2015.
As the song was sung, many turned their backs to the field and held up banners reading “Hong Kong is not China” and “Boo!” Both matches ended in a diplomatic 0-0 draw, and the Hong Kong Football Association was later sanctioned by FIFA.
There are still boos during the national anthem.
To prevent a recurrence, Hong Kong introduced a national anthem ordinance in June 2020. This stipulated that when a volunteer march was played at a major event, especially a sporting event, everyone had to stand up and “depart with dignity.” Anyone who intentionally disrespects the national anthem faces a penalty of three years in prison and a $6,000 fine.
But that didn't stop some members of the audience from booing during the national anthem when Hong Kong played Myanmar late last year.
The new regulations are not enough; in early 2023, the China-Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee will require Hong Kong's 83 sports organizations to change their names to include “China” or lose funding. commanded.
The newly named “China Hong Kong Football Association” officially complied with this, and the newly named Hong Kong Chinese National Team was born. “All national sports teams organized in Hong Kong are required to change their names from Hong Kong to Hong Kong, China to show their political allegiance,” Lo explained.
“Many people who are avid fans of the Hong Kong national team were really complaining and expressing their dissatisfaction online. [the national team] It was a big part of Hong Kong's unique identity. ”
But with Hong Kong's post-protest security system narrowing the space for dissent and the threat of imprisonment looming, few fans were able to speak out. The stadium fell silent. Or almost silent.
In March 2023, thousands of people lined up outside Kowloon's Mong Kok Stadium to watch the last game the Hong Kong national team officially played under its name.
The thousands of people who arrived at Mongkok Stadium weren't just there to witness the historic final moments. They also arrived to purchase the last Hong Kong jersey to be released before its name changes permanently. “People were so upset about it [the name and jersey change]'' Law recalled. “So people took their last chance to buy the last version of the jersey.”
The jerseys sold out within an hour. “I couldn't get it either!” said Law.
Friendly and symbolic victory over China
Hong Kong reached the Asian Cup final for the first time since 1968 under Norwegian coach Jørn Andersen, who has experience operating in politically sensitive environments after coaching the North Korean national team. Zhang Siu-guan's goal in the first match of this year's tournament against the UAE was Hong Kong's first appearance in the Asian Cup in 56 years.
“It's still a bit difficult to properly assess how much the Hong Kong team has grown over the last few years. [but] “There was definitely an upward trend after Jørn Andersen took over in 2021,” said Tobias Süzer, academic and co-host of the Hong Kong Football Podcast.
“Hong Kong has benefited from the recent expansion of the Asian Cup from 16 to 24 teams. Although they qualified as the 24th team, they have lost out to the likes of Vietnam, which is a common occurrence. There is still a perception, so qualifying for the Asian Cup in the future will still be a big challenge.”
Coach Zzer believes Andersen has introduced a more aggressive style of using young players alongside naturalized foreigners, which has brought results.
In a symbolic move, Hong Kong defeated China 2-1 in a friendly match held behind closed doors in Abu Dhabi before the start of the tournament, marking their first victory over China in 28 years.
“You don't have to motivate the team against China,” Andersen said after the win.
“[The win against China] It was certainly a symbolic victory,” Tzer said. “But compared to the last two wins, the 1985 World Cup qualifier and the 1995 East Asian Cup precursor penalty shootout, it was just a friendly and therefore has considerably less historical weight.”
Mr Law said he had noticed that the official reaction to the victory had been more subdued.
“Not a single Hong Kong official came out to congratulate the Hong Kong team. Even after Hong Kong won against China, no one said anything,” he said. “If Hong Kong had won against Japan or South Korea, government officials would have said, 'Look how well we played.' Not this time.”
Law still followed the national team's results, but from a distance. He fled Hong Kong in 2021 after the city's new security law came into effect. He was then granted political asylum in Britain. Last July, Hong Kong authorities issued a warrant for Lo's arrest and offered a reward of HK$1 million (about $129,000) for his arrest.
The national team lost the first two matches against Iran and UAE. When Palestine defeated Hong Kong, a victory that ensured that both Hong Kong and China were eliminated from the tournament, Low tweeted generously: We need peace and rights. ”
new convergence
Jørn Andersen is likely to remain in the Hong Kong squad as they prepare for their next challenge, the 2026 World Cup qualifying rounds in March.
Despite losing all three matches at the Asian Cup, fans were especially positive about their performances against UAE and Iran. “Being able to beat China was very important.” [before the tournament]'' Andersen said after the war in Palestine. “It gave us confidence. Overall, we experienced a good tournament, took a step forward and closed the gap to the bigger teams. We worked hard and closed the gap a little more. We have to shrink it.”
Hong Kong's friendly victory at this year's Asian Cup and Abu Dhabi showed that the gap between Hong Kong, China and the Republic of China is narrowing, at least from a soccer perspective.
This is perhaps one of the convergences that the mainland did not expect. “If Hong Kong, a quote-unquote 'local team', performs well and outperforms China, it will be bad news for them,” Lo said. “And that's good news for us.”