Is the word "national" banned in Hong Kong?

（SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)ThechiefexecutivesaidonTuesdaymorningthatthegovernmentwasfollowinguponaccusationsthattheLeisureandCulturalServicesDepartmenthadprohibitedanartistfrompublishingthefullnameofherTaiwanesealmamaterbecauseitcontainedtheword“national”.

Theartist,SuieLoShuk-yin,wasanexecutiveproducerforthedramaproductionThreeNovels:TheThirdLie,stagedatTsuenWanTownHallfromlastFridaytoSundaybylocaldramagroupTheNonsensemakers.

Lohadprovidedabriefartistbiographyfortheprogrammebooklet,inwhichshementionedheralmamater,theTaipeiNationalUniversityoftheArts.

TheNonsensemakerssaidontheirFacebookpageonMondaythatdepartmentstaffhadverballyrequestedthattheword“national”,bothinChineseandEnglish,notappearinthebooklet.

Thegroupsaidittriedandfailedseveraltimestochangetheirmind.

ThestaffmemberssuggestedthattheyusetheChineseversionoftheabbreviatedformoftheschoolnameinstead,whichdidnotcontaintheoffendingword.

Thebiographywasfinallychangedtoafewsentencesprotestingagainstrestrictionofcreativityandfreedomofspeech.Loappearedinapicturenexttothetextwithherdegreecertificate,whichcarriedtheuniversity’sfullname.

Thegroupsaidtheschoolnamewasabasicfactwhichshouldbepublishedinfulloutofrespectforacademiaandthearts.

TheNonsensemakerssaidtheywouldratherwithdrawtheinformationthanpublishthe“prunedpersonalintroduction”,andadded:“WedeeplyhopethatHongkongerscancontinuetoenjoyfreedomtospeakandcreate.Thisisthecorevaluewetreasurethemost.”

ThedepartmentonMondaynightgavenodirectresponseoverwhetherithadprohibitedtheuseoftheschool’sfullname.

Aspokesmansaidthedepartmentoftendiscussedthepublicationoftheprogrammebookletswithartgroups,andaddedthatitwouldlookintothiscasemorecloselyandexplorehowtostrengthencommunicationswiththeconcernedorganisationinthefuture.

SpeakingbeforetheweeklyExecutiveCouncilonTuesdaymorning,ChiefExecutiveLeungChun-yingwasaskedifLCSD’shandlingoftheissueshowedthatHongKongwasbecomingalesscivilisedplace.Inresponse,hesaidonlythatthegovernmentwasfollowinguponthematter,andthatSecretaryforHomeAffairsLauKong-wahwouldspeakonthetopiclateronTuesday.

Lauismeetingthepressat12.30pmtospeakonthematter.

AnonlinesearchshowedthatthedepartmenthadpreviouslypublicisedthefullnamesofTaiwaneseuniversitiessuchasNationalTaiwanUniversityandNationalChengchiUniversitywhenintroducingartsprogrammesandartistsonitswebsite.

Similarexampleswerefoundonothergovernmentwebsitesaswellasinthegazettes.

Theallegedbandrewfirefromlawmakers.

DemocratJamesToKun-sunsaid:“Thedepartmentcouldn’tevenaccommodateaname,whichwasveryabsurd.Itwasanoppressionofspeechandcreativefreedom.”

Tosaidthecentralgovernmenthadrecognisedthe“1992consensus”,whichstatedthattherewasoneChina,withthemainlandandTaiwaneachhavingitsowninterpretationofwhatthatmeant.

“ThedepartmentisundoubtedlystirringuptheTaiwanesepeople’semotionandholdingbackPresidentXiJinping,”Tosaid.

InalettertothedirectorofLeisureandCulturalServicesMichelleLiMei-sheung,CivicPartylawmakerDrKennethChanKa-lokcalledthisacaseofpoliticalcensorship.

HeurgedLitoprovidethejustificationforthedecision,aswellastoconductaninvestigationandtoapologisetothedramagroup.