For the second consecutive year, Hong Kongers have been prohibited from holding a candlelit vigil in Victoria Park this evening on the grounds of COVID-19 “health concerns.” Held annually, the vigil remembers victims of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre, when peaceful democracy protesters were peppered with bullets and mowed down by armored personnel carriers in Beijing.
Prior to last year’s ban also ostensibly due to COVID-19 safety concerns Hong Kongers had held the vigil for three decades without interruption. Although some ignored last year’s ban and converged on Victoria Park, attendance was significantly lower than in previous
With Vigil Banned, Hong Kong Activists Commemorate June 4 Privately
Posted by Joseph Brouwer | Jun 3, 2021
For three decades a vigil to commemorate those killed in Beijing on June 4, 1989 was held in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. It was once the only Tiananmen Square memorial held on Chinese soil. Now, local authorities have used the pretext of coronavirus to ban the annual gathering attendance can be punished with five years in prison, publicizing it with one. Authorities attempted to block the vigil in 2020 but organizers defied the ban. Some are now imprisoned. Eight other prominent activists and Hong Kong residents were sentenced last week for attending a banned protest on the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China’s founding on October 1, 2019. At The Wall Street Journal, Wenxin Fan
港府全方位阻止港人悼念 六四紀念館被逼關閉 ntdtv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ntdtv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.