Ukraine under fire for black HK flag blunder
Top News | 21 Dec 2022
Stacy Shi
Ukraine should stick to the one-China principle and refrain from siding with Taiwan independence and anti-China forces, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Hong Kong said, after authorities in the Eastern European country misused a black-and-white SAR flag and the Taiwan flag in a video.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on Sunday posted a one-minute video on Twitter to express gratitude to people from 52 countries and regions worldwide who "have fought alongside Ukraine," including Hong Kong.
The video says: "You are all heroes and we will win this fight together." It had gained more than 265,000 views by 4pm yesterday. But it was removed before 6pm.
However, Hong Kong was represented in the video by a black bauhinia flag, which was designed during the 2019 protests and was used by activists. There was also a "blue sky, white sun, wholly red earth" flag representing Taiwan.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said yesterday that the matter was a diplomatic issue and will be dealt with through diplomatic methods and that the authorities had discussed it with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Hong Kong.
The office responded to media queries, saying: "There is but one China. Hong Kong and Taiwan are part of China. We urge Ukraine to properly handle the issue and effectively abide by the one-China principle."
The office also reminded Ukraine "not to fuel Taiwan independence and anti-China forces in Hong Kong."
Separately, Lee said the government will continue to negotiate with Google to remove wrong search results following mix-ups between the Chinese national anthem and a protest song also related to the 2019 anti-extradition unrest.
Lee said the national anthem represents the country and people. The matter should be "taken seriously by whoever provides that information to ensure its accuracy," Lee added.
He said the removal of wrong results of searches for "Hong Kong national anthem" conforms to Google's corporate policy.
Lee said its policy states that the search results will be removed for legal reasons and the display of the wrong anthem involves insulting the national anthem, which may violate the law on the national anthem.
stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com
