“Go Hong Kong” singer Jacky Cheung was attacked by netizens as “unpatriotic” for saying “Go Hong Kong”

Jacky was one of the subjects interviewed by China’s state-run CCTV for a series of special programs to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s transfer of sovereignty to China, the Central News Agency reported today, citing sources. “Hong Kong has been through a lot in these 25 years,” Cheung said in Cantonese during the interview. “It’s been up and down. But because I grew up with this city, I was born here, I grew up here, I still believe in this city, I still hope this city will become a better city than before, go Hong Kong.”

Jacky Cheung’s brief statement, however, was strongly questioned and attacked by some Chinese netizens as “unpatriotic”, among which the words “Go Hong Kong” were the most questioned. The reason is that “Go Hong Kong” was widely used by protesters during the “Anti-China” movement in 2019, and has since been regarded as a taboo expression by The Chinese side and the Hong Kong government. When Jacky Cheung uttered these four words, it was seen as echoing the protesters’ claims.

Some Chinese netizens thought that Jacky Cheung only mentioned “Hong Kong” and “the 25th anniversary” in the whole interview, but did not mention anything about the “motherland”, obviously “not patriotic enough”. Others said Cheung seemed “dissatisfied” with Hong Kong’s changes in the past 25 years, referring to its “ups and downs”.

The interview was soon removed from CCTV’s official website in response to mounting criticism, but it was not enough to allay some Chinese netizens’ doubts about Cheung’s stance.

According to Hong Kong media, Jacky Cheung said in a statement to the media today that he considers himself a “Chinese who loves the country and Hong Kong” and that as an artist, it is his basic principle not to get involved in politics. He was born and raised in Hong Kong and wanted to die in Hong Kong.

Mr. Cheung said that because of his connection with Hong Kong, he witnessed the city at its most golden and glorious moments. In the past few years, in particular, Hong Kong has experienced the “black storm”, followed by the epidemic, the depression of all industries and people’s anxiety. It is time for Hong Kong to work hard to refuel. He said he had heard “Go Beijing, Go Wuhan” and “Go Shanghai”. But “Go Hong Kong” has been used by some “people who have made mistakes”, and “black” and “yellow” have been used by some people who have committed crimes with ulterior motives. They have become the standards of patriotism and unpatriotism, and become “forbidden language” and “forbidden color”, which “I personally cannot understand”.

Mr. Cheung said he was among those who passed through Hong Kong “to benefit from the country’s rapid development,” adding that he was “proud to be Chinese,” the agency said. I hope that “we Chinese people are rational and persuasive”, and show Chinese style in front of the people of the world. As the saying goes, “Listen to what you say and see what you do. Whether you love Hong Kong or not is a matter of public opinion.” He finally said, thank you for your supervision of “myself (an ant citizen)”, “I will continue to work hard to be a good person and a good singer in line with the supervision of the Chinese people.”