Rugby anthem blunder: Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing camp has gone quiet over protest song played at South Korea match. What happened?

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Two days after a display of anger and strong words over a 2019 protest song played at a rugby match in South Korea instead of the Chinese national anthem, Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing camp suddenly went quiet.

The central government’s more restrained response over the incident prompted the dialling down on the noise, analysts and pro-Beijing veterans said, adding it indicated mainland Chinese authorities were not keen to let the blunder affect improving Sino-Korean relations seen only in recent months.