Minister’s comments suggest law against disrespecting March of the Volunteers could come with three-year prison terms
Hong Kong’s constitutional affairs minister said on Wednesday the government would refer to existing laws against disrespecting the Chinese flag or emblem, while drafting a new law protecting the national anthem.
That suggested anyone convicted under the new law could spend up to three years in prison.
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen was speaking at the Legislative Council, as China’s top legislative body continued to discuss banning disrespect of the anthem in Hong Kong.
In September, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved the law, which came into effect on the mainland at the beginning of October. If the standing committee endorses, as expected, a plan to introduce it in Hong Kong this coming Saturday, the city’s government will need to make a local version of the law.
The standing committee discussed on Tuesday introducing a clause in the country’s Criminal Code to make abuse of the national anthem or flag punishable by up to three years in prison.
Watch: Hong Kong soccer fans boo national anthem
At the Legco meeting on Wednesday, Civic Party lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki asked whether the Hong Kong government’s eventual anthem law would also stipulate a three-year maximum sentence.
