Hong Kong football fans hoot Chinese anthem

Hong Kong football supporters booed the Chinese national anthem and waved placards against government plans to allow extraditions to the mainland during a home game against Taiwan on Tuesday night.

The supporters' demonstration took place as the international center was once again shaken by huge anti-government demonstrations, with record-breaking marches at weekends and protesters taking the main highways on Wednesday morning.

The latest protests were triggered by a proposal to allow criminals to be delivered to China for the first time.

Many fear that the proposed law will lead people to opaque courts on the mainland in politically motivated trials and tarnish Hong Kong's reputation as a hub of international trade.

Published social media images of Hong Kong's 0-2 defeat by Taiwan on Tuesday night showed raging fans as the Chinese anthem "Volunteer March" was aired.

Fans have booed the national anthem for years, but it has become much more commonplace since the huge demonstrations in favor of democracy in 2014 have failed to secure concessions from Beijing.

China inherits all disrespect for its anthem and has fine-tuned the legislation on the proper way and venue for singing the anthem, tightening the rules that already prohibit people from performing at parties, weddings and funerals.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong unveiled a bill that would punish anyone who disrespects the Chinese national anthem with a sentence of up to three years in prison.

The legislation, which specifically mentions the behavior of supporters at football matches as justification, continues to make its way to the city's parliament.

A bill indicated that the city planned to copy the continent by providing a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment for "serious" cases of non-compliance with the national anthem.

The bill prohibits playing the anthem "in a distorted or disrespectful manner, with the intention of insulting". It also prohibits altering the lyrics and the hymn of the anthem. In addition to possible prison sentences, offenders will be liable to fines of up to HK $ 50,000 (approximately $ 6,000).

Critics of the bill described it as a new initiative by the pro-Beijing authorities to suppress dissent and criticism of China in a city where freedom of expression is supposed to be protected.