Weightlifting body sorry for mix-up over nation

Public apology issued after association chief implies Hong Kong and Taiwan are countries

The Hong Kong, China Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association has issued a public apology after its chairwoman again implied the city and Taiwan were countries in their own right.

A statement by the association said there had been a miscommunication because Josephine Ip Wing-yuk’s pre-written speech for the opening ceremony at the Asian Equipped Championship and Asian University Cup had not been updated after a country dropped out.

The association said it deeply opposed Hong Kong independence and acts of secession, and expressed its “deepest regret to the public” for the error during Ip’s remarks at the event at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai.

According to the governing body, Ip’s initial speech had included the line: “This time, we have lifters and officials from 16 countries/regions including China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong China, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Thailand.” But, Ip reportedly noticed that number was incorrect and also felt the sentence was too long, so she shortened it to: “This time, we have lifters and officials from 13 countries.”

However, this was not the first time Ip was forced to apologise. In March, she called the city a “relatively small country” during her opening speech at the Hong Kong Weightlifting Invitational.

She later claimed that it had been a “slip of the tongue”.

The association is no stranger to controversy either. In December 2022, at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship in Dubai, the pro-democracy protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” was played instead of the national anthem, “March of the Volunteers”, when Susanna Lin won gold.

Officials blamed organisers for the mistake, and said they had followed the guidelines and provided the correct national anthem.

This latest apology followed Friday’s strongly worded statement from the Hong Kong government, which condemned Ip’s words and demanded an explanation and further investigation from the city’s Sports Federation and Olympic Committee.