Status: 04.06.2022 1:05 p.m
While Western countries commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen massacre 33 years ago, commemorative events in Hong Kong are again banned. The police warned against gatherings and cordoned off Victoria Park.
For the third time in a row, Hong Kong authorities have canceled the memorial service for the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. As in the two previous years, a candle vigil on the anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the democracy movement on June 4, 1989 was prohibited. Police officers patrolled and cordoned off Hong Kong’s Victoria Park.
For a long time, the special administrative region was the only place in China where the victims of the massacre could be commemorated. Tens of thousands of people usually took part in the big candle service in Victoria Park. In the summer of 2020, however, Beijing introduced a harsh security law for Hong Kong – since then the vigil has not been allowed.
With the bloody crackdown on June 4, 1989, the Chinese army ended weeks of protests for freedom and democracy on Tiananmen Square. Hundreds of demonstrators were killed. Military action is a politically taboo subject in China. The Chinese leadership does not allow public discussion or commemoration of the anniversary.
Western states remember massacres
Despite Chinese warnings, Western countries and Taiwan commemorated the anniversary of the suppression of the democracy movement in China. “Today, the struggle for democracy and freedom continues to resonate in Hong Kong, where the annual Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration vigil has been banned by the PRC and Hong Kong authorities in a bid to quell memories of the day,” it said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement published on the Hong Kong consulate’s Facebook page.
With a photo of thousands of participants, the Canadian consulate commemorated the vigils in Victoria Park in the heart of Hong Kong, which have been banned for two years. The Australian consulate emphasized on Facebook: “We continue to stand up for the right of everyone to freedom of expression, association, political participation and freedom of religion or belief.” According to media reports, the Chinese representation in Hong Kong had warned Western representations against actions to commemorate the uprising.
threatened with five years in prison
A copy of the “Statue of Shame” was erected in Taiwan, as reported by the “Taipei Times”. The original – the memorial to the Beijing massacre on the Hong Kong University campus – was removed by the authorities in December 2021. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen lamented the lack of an official vigil in Hong Kong. Memories of the crackdown are being systematically removed from society’s collective memory, she wrote on Facebook.
Hong Kong police, meanwhile, have reminded residents that any form of commemoration of the events could be punished with up to five years in prison. Senior Police Representative Liauw Ka-kei said on Thursday that anyone entering Victoria Park was at risk of committing an “unlawful assembly” offence. This also applies to people who go there alone.
The diocese will also not hold any memorial services this year for the first time. Organizers and prominent participants in the vigils of the past few years have been imprisoned or have fled Hong Kong.