Explainer: National Anthem Bill, why it matters

The Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is voting on the National Anthem Bill on Thursday, a move that may eventually end the one-and-a-half-year legislative process.

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File photo by CGTN

Efforts to push for the legislation began at the beginning of 2019 when the HKSAR government submitted the bill to LegCo, but the process was later postponed due to the prolonged social unrest in Hong Kong last June and was not resumed until May 28.

Here's all you need to know about the bill and why it matters.

What is the National Anthem Bill?

The bill, proposed by the Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), made stipulations on the playing and singing of China's national anthem "March of the Volunteers."

It specifies "the standard, etiquette and occasion" for using the national anthem, and criminalizes insulting or misusing the national anthem, with persons who commit an offense facing a potential fine of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately 6,450 U.S. dollars) and up to three years in jail.

In the section of "Promotion of National Anthem," the bill requires "inclusion of the national anthem in primary and secondary education" and orders students to learn to sing the national anthem as well as the history, spirit and etiquette of it.

From a legal perspective, the bill is a local implementation of the National Anthem Law – a legislation that came into force in the Chinese mainland on October 1, 2017, and was soon added to Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, in November the same year.

"The legislative principle of the Bill is to fully reflect the purpose and intent of the National Anthem Law," said LegCo in a statement released on the day the bill was gazetted.

Following Article 18(2) of the Basic Law, the HKSAR government bears the responsibility to apply locally the national laws listed in Annex III to the Basic Law by way of promulgation or legislation by the HKSAR.

Given the common law system and actual circumstances in Hong Kong, the SAR government proposed to implement the National Anthem Law in the HKSAR by local legislation, which is also consistent with the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.