Hong Kong Police Arrested More Than 20 People For Trying To Remember China’s Tiananmen Square Massacre
For decades, Hong Kong had been one of the only places in China where the events could be remembered publicly with a candlelight vigil.
Hong Kong police detained more than 20 people who were attempting to mark the 34th anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square massacre on Sunday June 4.
The Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing, China, occurred on June 4, 1989, when Chinese government troops armed with assault rifles and tanks killed several thousand student-led pro-democracy demonstrators.
The 1989 incident is strictly censored in the mainland, but for decades, Hong Kong had been one of the only places in China where the events could be remembered publicly.
In 2019, more than 180,000 people attended the annual vigil in Victoria Park.
However, the vigil was banned by officials over COVID restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
The organizers of the vigil, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, also disbanded in 2022 after its leaders were arrested and jailed under the national security law, which was imposed by China in 2020.
This year on June 4, police deployed armored vehicles and police vans around Victoria Park and conducted stop and search operations.
Police said they arrested 23 people aged between 20 and 74 for “breaching the public peace”, while another 53-year-old woman was arrested for obstructing police officers.
Some of those arrested included prominent pro-democracy activist 67-year-old Alexandra Wong, known as “Grandma Wong”.
Others who were detained included a man who held a copy of “35th of May”, a play about the Tiananmen Square massacre and an elderly man who was standing alone on a street corner with a candle, according to Reuters.
Sanmu Chan, a performance artist, yelled, “Hong Kongers, don’t be afraid! Don’t forget June 4,” as he was taken away by police officers.
“The regime wants you to forget, but you can’t forget… It (China) wants to whitewash all history,” Chris To, a 51-year-old man who visited the park in a black t-shirt and was searched by police, told Reuters. “We need to use our bodies and word of mouth to tell others what happened.”
In Taiwan, hundreds of people held a vigil in the capital of Taipei.
Taiwan is now the only Chinese-speaking country left that can publicly mourn the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
