LES MISERABLES Anthem Adopted by Protesters In China and Hong Kong

Les Miserables revolutionary anthem, 'Do You Hear the People Sing?' has been adopted as a protest song in both Hong Kong and mainland China.

The classic show tune has been dubbed with lyrics prevalent to some of the issues facing the Chinese people including the censure of Li Wenliang, the doctor who issued early warnings about the coronavirus outbreak and Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

According to The Guardian, in response to the song's popularity among the opposition to the Chinese government, it has been removed from streaming platforms, both as an individual single and from cast albums.

Despite the effort to tamp down on the song's popularity, individual lyrics have subverted the censors of China's social media networks Weibo and WeChat.

This is not the first time the song has been used as a tool of protest, having made appearances in political movements in the Philippines, Iraq, Turkey and Ukraine.

The song was also used to depressing effect in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, as a response to Hillary Clinton's comments calling his supporters a "basket of deplorables." Trump appeared at a rally in front of a projection of the words, "Les Deplorables" as the song blared in the background.

The show's composers quickly denounced the song's usage at the rally.

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