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The Chinese Communist Party is on the verge of extinguishing the last public event in Beijing-controlled territory commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre – a goal that has eluded for more than three decades.
The annual candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park often draws tens of thousands of people to remember the people who died in Beijing on June 4, 1989, when the People’s Liberation Army crushed protests by pro-government protesters. -democracy and its supporters in the Chinese capital.
While last year’s eve was banned by Hong Kong police for public health reasons as the territory battled the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of people still gathered to light candles while police watched.
This year’s rally, which is said to have taken place on Friday, has also been banned due to the pandemic. But activists believe Hong Kongers will be less likely to take part in another act of mass defiance after the imposition of a National security law last year containing harsh sanctions for subversion and other crimes against the state.
The vigil, held since 1990, is considered highly symbolic of Hong Kong’s liberties, showing the city’s spirit of independence to the rest of the world. It had become one of the most important annual events for pro-democracy groups, where families attended to light candles and sing songs.
Many believe the security law will make it impossible to hold future memorials even after the pandemic is withdrawn.
“With this step, Hong Kong is getting closer to being one more Chinese city,” said Minxin Pei, a Chinese expert at Claremont McKenna College in California. “This year they can hide behind the pandemic. Next year they will use another excuse.
A mainland academic advising Beijing on Hong Kong policy issues said the Chinese government could no longer tolerate the vigil.
“The assembly has a political purpose and contradicts the national security law, which prohibits the subversion of state power,” the person said. “It’s not a simple encounter.”
He said China should be alert in case the assembly provokes “political turmoil.”
Dozens of activists and some of those who took part in the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong two years ago – as well as last year’s banned vigil – are in jail for participating in or organizing unauthorized protests. Many of them are also pending trial for alleged violations of the National Security Act, which carry sentences of up to life in prison.
A recent bail application from Claudia Mo, one of the 47 defendants en masse subversion essay, was rejected after prosecutors pointed out interviews she had done with the Western media. The prosecution cited WhatsApp messages and television interviews in which it said the National Security Act had launched a “political cold” into the territory.
Chow Hang-tung, vice president of the Hong Kong Alliance for Support of China’s Patriotic Democratic Movements, came out, and supporters of her group opened a street stop last month to mark the June 4 massacre © Bloomberg
However, many Hong Kong residents will mark Tiananmen’s 32nd anniversary this year by lighting candles in private.
Lee Cheuk-yan, a veteran pro-democracy activist and vigilante organizer jailed for his role in the 2019 protests, told friends he would send smoke signals with a lit cigarette from the prison cell.
“June 4 symbolizes Hong Kong’s freedom,” said Chow Hang-tung, a lawyer and vice president of the Hong Kong Alliance for Support of China’s Patriotic Democratic Movements, which organizes the vigil. “Today the risk of any kind of political participation is very high, [the authorities] they control people with fear “.
But he added that “the power accumulated over 32 years within each and every one of the people is not so easy to tread on.”
Chow said the government was still using the pandemic as an excuse instead of banning commemoration for national security reasons, because “the reaction would be huge.”
Richard Tsoi, another member of the alliance, argued that while this year’s memorials “might be less visible, we can preserve our strength and [hopefully] to have the capacity to mourn him in the future ”.
Willy Lam, a Chinese expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said he expected a handful of bad guys to show up, though the government’s “tough tactics” and threats of imprisonment are likely to deter most attendance.
Many pro-Beijing figures in Hong Kong argue that the alliance’s goals, which advocate “the end of a party’s dictatorship” in China, violate national security law.
“I don’t agree with the people who make use of this event to promote a subversive agenda,” said Ronny Tong, advisor to Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Regina Ip, another pro-Beijing politician, said the event was being used as a “big stick to nail China.”
However, other people in the Hong Kong establishment fear that the Lam administration has gone too far in its attempts to satisfy Beijing.
A broader effort is being made to review how the history of Hong Kong and China is taught in the territory. School curricula are being rewritten and a local museum on June 4 was temporarily closed Wednesday night after officials accused it of violating local laws.
“Everything is getting worse,” said a veteran member of the territory’s pro-Beijing political camp who believes the crackdown has been excessive. “Beijing cannot tolerate a single dissenting voice.”
Additional reports of Xinning Liu in Beijing
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