Hong Kong's Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association's chairwoman Josephine Ip Wing-yuk makes another "slip of the tongue" mistake by referring the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and China's Taiwan island as countries in a recent event. Photo: screenshot of TVB News

Hong Kong's Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association issued an apology statement on Saturday as its chairwoman made another "verbal slip" by referring the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and China's Taiwan island as countries, and it submitted a report to the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) on Saturday. 

This was not the first time that the association made a "slip of the tongue', as its chairwoman called Hong Kong as a "small country" during an open event in March. 

At the opening ceremony of the Asian Equipped Powerlifting Championship and the Asian University Cup on Monday, the association's chairwoman Josephine Ip Wing-yuk mentioned that the event, which featured competitors from the SAR and Chinese Taipei, had "lifters and officials from 13 countries," according to local media reports. 

While a total of 16 countries and regions had registered to participate before the competition, in the end, only 13 countries and two regions attended. 

During her speech, Ip noticed that the script did not match the actual number of participating teams and felt that the sentence was too long. She simplified the sentence to refer only to the 13 countries and mistakenly omitted the two regions, leading to a misunderstanding, which was a serious oversight.

"The association mentioned that it had submitted a report to the SF&OC, on Saturday to clarify the incident. It emphasized that Ip's speech did not imply that Hong Kong, China, and Chinese Taipei were one country and had no intention of promoting "Hong Kong independence." 

The association deeply apologized to society and the public for the misunderstandings caused by the opening speech.

The HKSAR government said on Friday that the statement is grossly inconsistent with the fact that delegations from Hong Kong, China and Chinese Taipei participated as regional teams and was a suspected violation of the one-China principle.

The HKSAR government said it attaches great importance to the series of mistakes in various gravity made by the association and has requested the SF&OC to conduct an in-depth investigation and submit an effective plan of improvement, according to a statement published by the government. 

The SF&OC said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Monday that it has received the written report submitted by the association and is now reviewing the report and will communicate with the government on the follow-up actions to be taken.

In March, Ip described Hong Kong, in Cantonese, as a "relatively small country" when addressing the development of weightlifting and powerlifting sports during an open event. She also categorized the city as "small countries" like Australia, according to the media report. 

And the association later issued a statement to apologize.

Political extremism or separatism should not hijack sportsmanship, Chu Kar-kin, a veteran current affairs commentator and deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Association for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Such speech disgraces the  HKSAR whether or not the message is conveyed with another purpose. Mixing up and labelling HKSAR and the island of Taiwan as countries or nations is a serious mistake and falls outside universal knowledge, Chu noted.  

"If her actual motivation is proven, it is a malicious offence under Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and is punishable," the expert said, noting that making such so-called confusions twice in two months may not be a coincidence. 

Investigations should be conducted by the police and the concerned parties should not deliver public speeches again until the case is concluded, Chu suggested.