Web moves pushed after anthem blunder in Dubai

Authorities should create a designated website introducing the correct Chinese national anthem for Hong Kong and request search engines to pin the page as the top result to avoid mix-ups, an IT expert has said.

The honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, Francis Fong Po-kiu, made the comments after organizers of a powerlifting competition in Dubai apologized for playing a song symbolizing the 2019 anti-extradition protests instead of the Chinese national anthem at the weekend.

It was the second time that such an error happened following the rugby blunder in South Korea - with inaccurate search results blamed.

A Google search for "Hong Kong national anthem" as of 6pm yesterday showed an information box introducing the National Anthem Ordinance, with a Wikipedia entry of Glory to Hong Kong as the top result.

The Hong Kong team had submitted an audio file of March of the Volunteers but the Asian Powerlifting Federation said the technical team had confused the track with another audio file downloaded from the internet.

"The team is made up of volunteers from various countries and they don't know what the Hong Kong China national anthem should be," federation president Farshid Soltani said.

In an online video , Glory to Hong Kong is being played during weightlifter Susanna Lin's gold medal celebration.

Lin is seen flashing a "T" sign after the 15-second mark - to signal a time out - and the Chinese national anthem begins to play soon afterward.

That gesture was one of the measures listed on a guideline issued earlier by the Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee on how athletes should react if the national anthem and regional flag were faulty.

The sports federation has instructed the powerlifting association "to investigate the cause of the incident in detail and submit a report."

Last month, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong met with senior staff at Google's Asia-Pacific public policy and government affairs division to start "solemn negotiations" on the tech giant's search results relating to China's national anthem.

Fong said it would be challenging to manipulate search results to lower the position of high-value searches of Glory to Hong Kong as it has been a hot topic recently. He proposed pinning a designated website introducing the correct Chinese national anthem as the top result on search engines to avoid further mix-ups.

But he had concerns as to how far those regulations on search results could reach: "While authorities could negotiate with Google, search engine providers have the right to decide whether to make those changes, as they also have to abide by other jurisdictions' laws."

He said changes could be localized by applying them only to local IP addresses.

Acting commissioner for sports Paul Cheng Ching-wan said police will investigate the Dubai incident, warning that "those who breached regulations may face punishment."

Lawmaker Vincent Cheng Wing-shun said the blunder was "extremely disrespectful," but that athletes should not worry.

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com