March of the Volunteers
HKCT maintains a reputation as a patriotic institution, and is governed by a "Beijing-friendly" board. Controversy erupted in 2017 after the school ordered two social work graduands to leave their graduation ceremony at the college's Ma On Shan campus for refusing to stand during the playing of "March of the Volunteers", the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. After ordering the students to stand to no avail, school management suspended the ceremony and ordered the pair to leave. Ten other students left in solidarity with the pair. The 12 students were thus not awarded their certificates.