HK cops block Tiananmen vigil for first time in 30 yrs

HONG KONG/ BEIJING/ WASHINGTON: Hong Kong police rejected an application on Monday for an annual candle-light vigil marking the anniversary this week of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, as residents rushed to apply for passports that could allow them to move to the UK.

It would be the first time in 30 years that the candle-light vigil is not held in Hong Kong. The vigil marks the deadly military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

The police, in a letter to organisers, said it would violate coronavirus social distancing rules that ban gatherings of more than eight people.

WUHAN FINDS NO NEW SILENT SPREADERS

Wuhan, where the coronavirus had emerged late last year, reported no asymptomatic cases on Sunday, authorities said, as the city is testing millions of its residents to look for silent spreaders who do not show Covid-19 symptoms but could unwittingly infect others.

Wuhan, the capital city of the central Hubei province, conducted more than 60,000 nucleic acid tests on Sunday, finding no new asymptomatic cases, according to a statement issued on Monday by the municipal health commission.

POMPEO FIRES FRESH SALVO AT CHINA

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused China of using a “tactical situation” to its advantage and threatening others, like the one happening on its border with India.

“The Chinese Communist Party has been on this effort, on this march, for an awfully long time. They’ll certainly use a tactical situation on the ground to their advantage,” he said.

Earlier, China slammed the US, threatening Washington with “firm countermeasures” if it harms Chinese interests in Hong Kong, and said the US is “addicted to quitting” because of President Donald Trump’s decision to leave the WHO.