GLORY TO HONG KONG 荣耀归香港 榮耀歸香港
GLORY TO HONG KONG
GOD bless the people of Hong Kong who struggle daily to live in freedom and dignity while being oppressed and suppressed by the evil, fascist, authoritarian governments of Hong Kong and Beijing! REMEMBER THOSE MURDERED AT THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE!
荣耀归香港
上帝保佑每天在香港和北京邪恶的法西斯专制政府的压迫和镇压下，为自由和尊严而奋斗的香港人民！记住那些在天堂和平之门被谋杀的人！
榮耀歸香港
上帝保佑每天在香港和北京邪惡的法西斯專制政府的壓迫和鎮壓下，為自由和尊嚴而奮鬥的香港人民！記得那些在天堂和平之門被謀殺的人！
Opinion: 'Glory be to thee, Hong Kong!'
This is "Glory to Hong Kong." Singing this song, or listening to it, or merely quoting the lyrics in conversation, could soon get people in Hong Kong sent to prison. Even for life.
"Glory to Hong Kong" has lyrics that declare: "Break now the dawn, liberate our Hong Kong / May people reign, proud and free, now and evermore / Glory be to thee, Hong Kong!"
Hong Kong, of course, was returned to China from British rule in 1997. "Glory to Hong Kong" was written during the 2019 Hong Kong protests by a pop-rock musician who wishes only to be known as "Thomas dgx yhl." He told Hong Kong's Stand News website that he was inspired by anthems in composing the song, including "God Save the King" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
By the way: Stand News was shut a year after running the interview.
This week Hong Kong's appeals court Judge Jeremy Poon ruled that "Glory to Hong Kong" should not be performed, broadcast, or reproduced.
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved, saying, "It is only legitimate and necessary for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to stop anyone from using and disseminating relevant songs to incite secession and insult the national anthem."
But Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International's China director, told us, "Singing a protest song should not be a crime. It fundamentally violates international human rights."
"Glory to Hong Kong" has already been banned from Hong Kong's schools. And a man was arrested outside the city's British consulate in 2022 for playing the song on a harmonica after the death of Queen Elizabeth.
The court has also suggested that internet companies might, "stop facilitating the acts being carried out on their platforms."
So far, internet companies have not removed "Glory to Hong Kong" from their platforms. After this week's court ruling, do you think they would risk losing the right to do business there?
But you might wonder, too, if trying to stop "Glory to Hong Kong" from being sung and heard will only make the song more compelling—and powerful.
People who are barred from assembling to sing the song in public could begin to whisper the lyrics to one another, urgently, from behind their hands. They might tell one another, in hushed, urgent voices, "Our voice grows evermore: / For Hong Kong, may Glory reign!"
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