Hong Kong defies ban on Tiananmen Square vigil
‘ fight for freedom’
• Thousands of people, white candles in their hands, descended on a Hong Kong park to commemorate the massacre of pro- democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, 31 years ago, defying a first- ever ban on the vigil, ostensibly due to the coronavirus.
Shouting pro- democracy slogans, they drowned out announcements warning that gatherings of more than eight are illegal in the park and ignored nearby police on standby — hoping to preserve the fragile freedoms in their city before they are forever gone.
“This has been a difficult period for Hong Kong, and I really fear that this will be the last year we can mark June 4 in any way here,” said Crystal Chan, a 22- year- old student who was moved to attend for the first time. Chants of “fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” rang out behind her. “The message the students were trying to send in 1989 is the same as ours; that is the desire of freedom.”
The threat to the vigil underscores the deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong as the Communist Party moves to tighten the chokehold around the financial centre, notably through a far-reaching law against sedition, subversion and separatism that Beijing plans to implement within weeks.
Beijing’s loyalists on Thursday pushed through a bill to criminalize disrespect of China’s national anthem.
Earlier, police and firefighters entered Hong Kong’s legislature after two pro- democracy lawmakers threw foul-smelling liquid to protest against the “murderous” crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 31 years ago.
The disruption came after pro- establishment lawmakers vetoed most amendments to the anthem bill proposed by democrats.
Lawmakers Eddie Chu and Ray Chan rushed to the front of the chamber and splashed the reeking fluid as guards grappled with them. Police and firefighters later arrived on the scene.
“A murderous state stinks forever. What we did today is to remind the world that we should never forgive the Chinese Communist Party for killing its own people 31 years ago,” Chu said later, before he and Chan were removed from the chamber.
Another pro- democracy lawmaker was removed later in the day.
At Victoria Park, where the thousands of protesters gathered, many played Glory to Hong Kong, a song born out of last year’s protest movement, considered the territory’s de facto anthem.
“The existence of the candlelight vigil has always been a symbol to show that ‘ one country, two systems’ still works,” said Lee Cheukyan, who chairs the group that organizes the commemoration, referring to the governance model that previously afforded Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy. The ban on the vigil, he said, showed it no longer holds. “Let’s see if the police dare to stop us,” he said at the vigil, which was still dramatically smaller than last year’s crowd of 200,000. “Let’s see if they want to tell the world that it is game over in Hong Kong even before the national security law (is passed).”
China’s crackdown on June 4, 1989, followed weeks of demonstrations in Beijing and elsewhere as people called for democracy. The Communist Party eventually ordered the military to open fire, leaving hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead.
This year’s anniversary comes as Hong Kong is caught in a bitter clash between China and the United States. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted a photo of himself meeting with Tiananmen survivors.
On Monday, despite appeals from organizers, Hong Kong police refused to grant permission for the vigil, citing social- distancing and public- health measures to manage the COVID-19 outbreak.
Organizers, however, noted that schools have reopened in Hong Kong; subways, supermarkets, bars and restaurants are once again packed, and largescale religious gatherings are permitted as the city has largely contained the virus.
Aside from the health rationale, Beijing’s proxies have signalled they won’t tolerate the vigil any longer. Leung Chun- ying, a former Hong Kong chief executive who is now a political adviser to Beijing, said recently that the event could be outlawed under the new security law.