US slammed over anthem comments

The Foreign Ministry's office in Hong Kong has expressed strong dissatisfaction against remarks made by the US State Department regarding the banning of a protest song in the SAR, calling it a blatant interference in the city’s judicial proceedings. A spokesman with the office said in a statement that SAR officials had made the right and necessary move to ban people from using the song to incite others to separate Hong Kong from the rest of the country, or insult the national anthem. The statement noted that the SAR government and the High Court had fulfilled their constitutional responsibility to protect national security as well as the dignity of ‘March of the Volunteers’. The spokesman advised certain politicians to respect the basic principles of international relations and stop interfering in Hong Kong as well as China’s internal affairs. The US State Department’s spokesperson, Matthew Miller, had earlier described the Court of Appeal’s temporary injunction order to ban ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ as “the latest blow” to the SAR’s international reputation.