Can Hong Kong's achievement in the Olympics revive the city's spirit?

HK athletes must rely on the government for resources

Originally published on Global Voices

Hong Kong athletes made history in the first week of the Paris Olympic Games, winning two gold and two bronze medals.

Fencer Vivian Kong won the first gold medal in the women’s individual épée followed by her colleague Edgar Cheung in the men’s individual foil. Swimmer Siobhan Haughey won two bronzes in the women’s 100 and 200-meter freestyle. The victories doubled the number of gold medals won in Hong Kong's Olympic history. 

Chief Executive John Lee praised the first gold medalist, Vivian Kong, for perfectly demonstrating the “never-give-up Hong Kong spirit.” Upon returning to Hong Kong, Vivan Kong shared that during the Games, she drew from “Hong Kong’s spirit” to persevere during her matches.

The excitement over the Hongkongers’ Olympic success reached across the city's polarized political spectrum, and Vivan Kong quickly became a role model for young people. Meanwhile, commentary on “the spirit of Hong Kong” also emerged on pro-establishment media outlets. 

The debate over the spirit of Hong Kong

Conventionally, the people of Hong Kong call the spiritual character of Hong Kong the Lion Rock Spirit, which stands for resilience in the face of difficulties. The term emerged in the 1970s through a TV series depicting how the city struggled with poverty, corruption, drugs, discrimination, and more. The Lion Rock icon was later unofficially adopted by the pro-democracy movement as a symbol of people’s resilience to fight for a just and fair society. During the 2019 anti-China extradition protests, it was turned into a protest site. 

I think the torn off bit said “Stand with Hong Kong”. The “Glory to Hong Kong” and lion rock sections of the sticker remain though. pic.twitter.com/NYBhzQGqrp

— YTSL (@FY4Chan) July 29, 2024

Hence, in recent years, pro-establishment politicians and opinion leaders have refrained from mentioning “the Hong Kong spirit” as the image of Lion Rock has been politicized by pro-democracy protesters.

However, some see the city's achievement in the Olympics as an opportunity to tell a positive story about Hong Kong and reframe the spirit of the city. Media outlets and social media users have drawn a parallel analogy between the athletes’ striving for success and the city's striving to reboot its economy, which took a dive during the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to fully recover.  The following commentary from Chinese state-affiliated online news outlet Orange News serves as a prime example of this discourse:

拼搏進取是香港精神的「內核」。奧運賽場上的成績，並不是一帆風順的結果，而是香港運動員克服重重困難，迎接各種挑戰的成果。…這種永不言敗的精神，並非僅僅體現在體育賽場上，而是滲透到香港社會的各個層面。…香港曾經經歷過社會撕裂和動盪，但在中央政府的支持和特區政府的努力下，香港逐漸回歸正軌，展現出全新的面貌。…人無精神則不立，國無精神則不強。…香港市民同心同德，必將在香港由治及興的過程中，書寫更多的香港傳奇，創造更加輝煌的未來。

Striving is the ‘core’ of Hong Kong's spirit. Achievements in the Olympic Games are not the result of a smooth sailing, but the result of Hong Kong athletes overcoming difficulties and challenges…. This never-give-up spirit is not only embodied in sports but also permeates all levels of Hong Kong society… Hong Kong has experienced social unrest and turmoil, but with the support of the Central Government and the efforts of the HKSAR Government, Hong Kong has gradually returned to the right track with a brand-new outlook… Without spirit, a man cannot stand, and without spirit, a nation cannot be strong. … With one heart and one mind, the people of Hong Kong will certainly write more legends and achieve a brighter future in the process of Hong Kong's advancing to prosperity through the rule of law.

UK-based media outlet Green Bean mocked the idea of the Hong Kong spirit by alluding to the country's crackdown on rights and freedoms. The character holding the Olympic handcuff is Kevin Yeung, the current Secretary for Culture, Sports, and Tourism:

Controversy around the city's new role model

In the process of rewriting Hong Kong’s spirit, newly-titled Olympic medalist, Vivian Kong, has become a role model for young people in the city. 

Born in 1994, Kong lived in Canada between the ages of two and six years old since her family emigrated out of Hong Kong in 1996 before the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong to China. The family returned to the city where she finished her elementary education. She received a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Stanford University and an MA degree from Remin University, respectively, and is currently studying for a Juris Doctor degree in the Faculty of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She announced that she would end her athletic career and established a charity organization to promote sports. 

As she received the gold medal on July 28, she received much praise on social media. But in just a few days, those sweet words turned sour as her 2021 master thesis “Occupy Central and Its Effects on Hong Kong Election Reform” started circulating online on August 4. In the thesis, she strictly followed the official political rhetorical tools, labeling supporters of democracy as “anti-China trouble makers” who made use of loopholes in the system to destroy constitutional order and praised the Beijing imposed National Security Law in 2020 as an effective means to restore the city’s order, etc.

The 2014 Occupy Central Protests was a pro-democracy civil disobedience campaign that lasted for three months, with thousands occupying roads in Central, Causeway Bay, and Mongkok.

Justin Wong made a cartoon implying in her pro-Beijing authoritarian political views, Kong maimed Hong Kong's spirit:

In reaction to the controversy over Vivian Kong’s thesis, independent online news outlet Renew noted that Hong Kong’s athletes are inevitably part of the establishment:

在體育商業化近乎荒漠的威權社會，運動員是體制下的產物、亦必須依附於體制而生，靠努力獲得成功、形像正面的運動員，若取得一定成果，必然會成為統戰對象甚至統戰工具本身。…2019年之前，又或在最近一兩年前，香港雖然同樣處於不民主制度下，但好歹尚有反對派，個人自由大致完備，任何人都尚存表態或不表態的餘地…但隨著國安法、23條，種種完善後的由治及興，香港徹底變成「中國香港」，各自表述和想像的餘地已經接近清零。在這前提下，「香港運動員」客觀效果上必定會成為「說好的香港故事」的一部分。

In an authoritarian society where sports commercialization is absent, athletes must rely on the government for resources and thus are part of the establishment. Athletes who succeed through hard work and have a positive image will inevitably become the targets or tools of the united front if they achieve certain results. . …Before 2019, or a couple of years back, although Hong Kong was also under an undemocratic system, we still had an opposition camp, and people still more or less enjoy personal freedom. There was room for anyone to express a stance or not. …However, with the passage of the National Security Law and Article 23, and other regulations and practices for advancing prosperity, Hong Kong has completely become “Hong Kong, China”, and the room for individual expression has been almost eliminated. Under this premise, Hong Kong athletes will inevitably become part of the campaign to ‘tell a good story of Hong Kong.’

Written by Oiwan Lam