China’s Insistence on mandating or outlawing every little thing extends to musical life.
What, even humming?
Yes, the requirements of “national security”—a euphemism for the demand of China’s one-party state that its regimentation of all aspects of life be unhindered by resistance of any kind, spoken or mute, loud or soft, direct or indirect—also subsume the sin of humming a renegade tune.
In an op-ed for The Washington Post (“How a song threatens the Chinese Communist Party’s grip,” July 19, 2023), Keith Richburg copes with the neurotic sensibilities of the China’s government, which is struggling to eliminate the last vestiges of political freedom from Hong Kong society, including freedom of speech and freedom of humming.
Hong Kong officials have sought, not yet unsuccessfully, to ban the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong,” the unofficial anthem of the 2019 mass protests against China’s repression of Hong Kong. It includes the words “Liberate our Hong Kong . . . revolution of our times!”
Officials have asked a court to ban the song from being performed, broadcast, distributed, displayed, sold, printed or published by any means and on any platform.
Not just the lyrics but also the melody. Under the government’s sweeping request, even humming it on the subway or street could violate the city’s draconian national security law. . . .
The far-reaching law has succeeded in stamping out protests. . . . But much to the city leadership’s embarrassment, the song has continued to pop up at unexpected times.
What would happen if all Hong Kongers were to hum “Glory to Hong Kong” at the same time? Once a day every day? Could be bad. For the psyches of the Chinazis.
