Hundreds defy Hong Kong ban, show up at vigil for Tiananmen

Hong Kong, June 4: Hundreds of people gathered near a Hong Kong park on Friday despite a ban on an annual candlelight vigil remembering China’s deadly crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, and the arrest earlier in the day of an organiser of previous vigils.

The Hong Kong police banned the vigil for a second straight year, citing coronavirus social distancing restrictions, although there have been no local cases in the semiautonomous Chinese city for more than six weeks.

THE POLICE banned the vigil for a 2nd straight year, citing Covid curbs, although there have been no local cases in the semiautonomous Chinese city for more than 6 weeks

The cops closed off large parts of Victoria Park — the venue of past vigils — in the city’s popular Causeway Bay shopping district and warned people not to participate in unauthorized assemblies, which carry a penalty of up to five years in jail.

Despite the ban and a heavy police presence, hundreds of people still turned up Friday night to walk along the perimeter of the park.

At 8 pm, many turned on the flashlights on their smartphones while others lit candles in remembrance of those who lost their lives when China’s military put down student-led pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Hundreds, if not thousands, were killed in the crackdown.

In past years, tens of thousands of people have gathered in Victoria Park to honor the dead.