Hongkongers determined to hold Tiananmen crackdown vigil despite police ban ANI | Updated: Jun 01, 2021 12:46 IST
Hong Kong, June 1 (ANI): For the second straight year, Hong Kong police have cited public health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic to ban the annual Tiananmen vigil held on June 4. Despite this, many people are determined to hold it one way or the other.
The annual vigil is observed to remember the thousands killed when Chinese soldiers cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989.
Since the imposition of the draconian national security law last year that bans acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, concerns have mounted that organisers and attendees of the vigil risk being held in breach of the law, reported South China Morning Post (SCMP).
China has aimed its sights at Australia and New Zealand, accusing their prime ministers of making "groundless accusations" and "grossly interfering in its internal affairs".
Washington DC [US], May 27 (ANI): The Chinese government continues to undermine the democratic institutions of Hong Kong and denies the residents the rights that China itself has guaranteed, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday after the city's Legislative Council approved the controversial bill to reform the electoral system.
“The Chinese government continues to undermine the democratic institutions of Hong Kong, denying Hong Kong residents the rights that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) itself has guaranteed,” the secretary said in a statement.
Hong Kong’s legislature on Thursday passed a measure reducing the number of members who can be elected directly by Hong Kong residents – from 35 to 20 – and increasing the number of Beijing-approved candidates, according to The Associated Press.
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Forty of the 90 seats in Hong Kong’s legislature will be elected by a largely pro-Beijing committee, the AP reported.
Blinken, in his statement, said the changes to Hong Kong’s legislature “severely constrains people in Hong Kong from meaningfully participating in their own governance and having their voices heard.”