Commemorations in Hong Kong of the Tiananmen Square massacre have been largely suppressed as authorities seek to crush observance of repression against student protesters in a city that has normally held its largest annual vigil in Chinese soil.
The anniversary is one of the most sensitive events for the Chinese authorities, with the discussion of censored demonstrations on the mainland and the survivors or families of victims who have been detained or interrogated regularly.
Hong Kong hosted the world’s largest annual commemoration every June 4 until it was banned in 2020, a year after pro-democracy protests had swept across Chinese territory. Authorities later repressed the opposition and Beijing expanded its control of the quasi-autonomous city.
Officials said the ban two years ago was to control the coronavirus pandemic, but critics accused the government of using the health crisis as a pretext to stifle dissent.
Leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in support of China’s patriotic democratic movements, the group that traditionally organized the vigil, have been arrested and many are in jail. Chow Hang-tung, one of the imprisoned organizers, often uses her court appearances to evoke memories of the massacre.
Authorities have closed Victoria Park this year, where tens of thousands of residents often light candles to commemorate the event, from Friday night to Sunday morning.
Some residents found subtle ways to commemorate the massacre.
The Catholic Church has been marking special events for more than three decades, but has been stung by the arrest of Cardinal Zen, his former senior clergyman, last month. He was accused of failing to register a fund set up to help pay for the legal and medical expenses of participants in the 2019 protests. Cardinal Zen has denied the charges.
Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents gathered in 2014 to light candles at the largest annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre on Chinese soil © AP
At a morning Mass in Kowloon on Saturday, about 30 people prayed for “those who died for justice” despite the Catholic diocese canceling services to commemorate the massacre.
“Public monuments may disappear this year, but what I remember in my heart, you can’t make it disappear,” one congregation member said.
A small number of individuals also tried to commemorate the massacre in cordoned off Victoria Park, despite strong police presence. Some raised candles and cell phone lights saying they wanted to “keep the memory alive.”
Hong Kong students have also tried to commemorate the protests. Universities have been at the center of Beijing’s attempts to destroy support for the 2019 pro-democracy protests, and long-standing monuments to the Tiananmen Square massacre on campuses have been removed.
The “Pillar of Shame”, an eight-meter sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt that has been on display at Hong Kong University since 1997, was dismantled last December.
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The statue of the “Goddess of Democracy” at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a replica of a monument erected by student protesters in Tiananmen Square, was removed that month.
CUHK students this week created small replicas of the missing works of art and hid them on campus for others to find before the event ended due to “growing risks,” organizers said.
In Macau, one of the only parts of China where commemorative events were held until they were banned from 2020, there will be no public commemorations after authorities said last year’s events could be a “subversion.” “.
Tiananmen Square eves were planned overseas, even in London and Taiwan, this weekend.