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On July 1, the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from the British to China, many Hong Kong celebs, including Karen Mok, Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi, Charmaine Sheh, Leon Lai and Joey Yung, have congratulated Beijing on the occasion.
Many of them shared a post from Chinese state media, such as the People's Daily or CCTV on their Weibo pages, and included China in their well wishes for Hong Kong. All of them referred to China as the "motherland" in their posts.
Some Chinese netizens thought he doesn't love China
Singer Jacky Cheung's congratulatory video, which was posted by CCTV, however, had drawn flak from Chinese social media users, who thought that he was being "unpatriotic" when he ended his message by saying "Hong Kong add oil" (Go, Hong Kong).
The phrase is widely used by protesters in 2019 and 2020, and it has come to be associated with the movement -- seen as an act of ingratitude towards Beijing by "useless youths" -- by disapproving mainland Chinese and pro-Beijing people in Hong Kong.
Cheung, who turns 61 this coming July 10, said in the video, "Hong Kong has been through a lot these 25 years, the highs and lows, the ups and downs. But because I grew together with this city, and was born and raised here, I still believe in Hong Kong, and still hope that the city will become even better than before. Hong Kong, add oil."
In addition, he failed to mention certain key words such as Hong Kong's "return" to the "motherland", which is China.
Furthermore, as pointed out by Hong Kong media HK01, some online users wondered if Cheung was unhappy with the past 25 years during which Hong Kong was under Beijing, as he mentioned the city has been through "the highs and lows, the ups and downs".
In what appears to be CCTV caving in to pressure by Chinese netizens, the video was eventually taken down.
"I'm a Chinese"
Addressing the backlash, Cheung, who was dubbed one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" in Canto-pop, released a rare statement on July 3 that clarified his position.
He first said he's "a Chinese who loves both the country and Hong Kong", adding that he felt personally that as an artiste, he should not be "interfering with politics". I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and I also hope to spend my remaining life here," he said at the start of his response.
He continued to say that since he was born and raised in Hong Kong, he feels a "deep affinity" with the city.
"I've witnessed Hong Kong at its most glorious moment, which is quite unlike the Hong Kong today. Especially in the past few years, Hong Kong has went through a 'black storm', and then shortly after, the pandemic, an economic slump, widespread anxiety, this is the time when Hong Kong needs to 'add oil'.
I've heard people say 'Beijing add oil', 'Wuhan add oil', 'Shanghai add oil'... but just because some people who have made mistakes used 'Hong Kong add oil', and because some criminals have used the words 'black' and 'yellow' with sinister motives, these words have become the standard to judge whether one is patriotic or not, and they have become 'forbidden words'. I myself could not understand (this phenomenon)."
It can be noted that in his statement, Cheung used terms such as "black storm" that were widely invoked by the Hong Kong government and pro-Beijing media to refer to the protests that first broke out in 2019, due to opposition to a controversial extradition bill, and later expanded to include other pro-democracy goals.
Cheung also detailed his pride as a citizen under China, saying he was one of the many in Hong Kong who benefited under the rapid development of China.
"If there are really miracles in this world, China, which has lifted billions of people from poverty and enabled them to step into 'xiaokang' (a moderately prosperous society), is the greatest miracle in this century. And I, as a Chinese, feel immensely proud of this."
He ended his statement with a plea to those who felt offended at his video message, saying, "I hope that we Chinese can be rational, win others over with logic and reason, and show the world the bearing and demeanour of the Chinese people."
Many fans came to his defence
Not all Chinese Weibo users were won over, however, with some saying he was clearly advocating for "Hong Kong independence", and that his statement had further fanned the flames instead of quelling the fire.
Many who commented also expressed their anger at his attempt to clarify matters, with others asking them not to get upset by Cheung as he was "not worth it".
Nevertheless, many more fans have jumped to his defence, sharing videos that compiled the multiple instances of Cheung saying he's a "Chinese" and that his country is "China".
"Didn't clap hard enough"
The incident has also sparked comments from Hongkongers who felt that this is yet another example of their freedom being stripped away by not only the central government, but also growing ultra-nationalism in mainland China.
Wu Chien-chung, an associate professor from the Taipei University of Marine Technology, told Taipei Times that this shows that Hongkongers are currently not even allowed to have an opinion.
Commenting on the incident, Chinese historian Zhang Lifan, who is one of the most outspoken liberal-leaning critics of the Chinese Communist Party, cited a quote by Chinese scholar Zhang Xuezhong, but wrongly attributed by many to Greek philosopher Plato.
He said, "If sharp criticism disappears completely, even mild criticism will become harsh. If mild criticism is not allowed, silence will be considered as harbouring ill intentions. If silence is not allowed, not praising hard enough will become a crime. If only one voice is allowed to exist, then the only voice remaining will be lies."
Perhaps the quote, as well as the incident, is best summarised by a commenter as follows, "(Cheung) didn't clap hard enough, and didn't bleed from his forehead when he kowtowed."
More July 1 stories:
Top image adapted via Universal Music & CCTV