A young man was taken away by police on Sunday afternoon for selling a copy of the book entitled ’35 Hong Kong’ along with about twenty other people, both known and unknown, pro-democracy activists. Five thousand police officers were deployed in the Causeway Bay business district. Dozens of vehicles, including some very sophisticated armored vehicles never before seen by the public, lined the axes around Victoria Park. The site is a symbol of the vigils commemorating June 4, 1989, the day of the massacre of Chinese students around Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Also read the report: Article reserved for our subscribers In Taiwan, the tormented exile of Hong Kongers
Police said they arrested 23 people, 11 men and 12 women between the ages of 20 and 74, most of whom have since been released. Among them are Chan Po-ying, president of the opposition League of Social Democrats party, “Mamie Wong”, an unrepentant anti-government movement protester, Mak Yin-ting, former president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, and several both former vigil organizers as well as regular Hong Kongers like this woman whose t-shirt simply read “Conscience” in Chinese characters. The day before, artist SanMu had been arrested in the same neighborhood. Accompanied by several dozen police officers, he shouted to the public, “Hong Kongers, don’t be afraid! Don’t forget June 4th! Consulates representing the United States and Europe placed candles in their windows, while Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia released messages urging Beijing to deal with the taboo incident in China.
Gathering forbidden
The date of June 4, 1989 marks the night the Chinese army intervened around Tiananmen Square to put an end to months of student mobilization demanding more democracy and freedoms. In Hong Kong, this anniversary immediately became one of the most important dates in civil society’s calendar, and the handover to China in 1997 did not interrupt this tradition. Organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in support of democratic and patriotic movements in China and sanctioned by police until 2019, these vigils sometimes gathered several hundred thousand people. But for the first time in thirty years, the gathering was banned in 2020 due to Covid-19, then again in 2021 and 2022. Furthermore, the alliance disbanded in 2021, with most of its leaders in prison, including himself Attorney Chow Hang-tung, former vice president of the organization, who went on a 34-hour hunger strike to mark the 34th anniversary of the crackdown, earning her solitary confinement.
You have 28.99% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.