HK POLICE BAN TIANANMEN VIGIL FOR 2ND CONSECUTIVE YEAR

An annual vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre in Hong Kong's Victoria Park was banned by police for the second year running, Lisa Jane Harding reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Spokeswoman Chow Hang Tung from the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HKA) told dpa that the organization had received a letter banning the vigil and planned march, with police citing pandemic restrictions as the reason.

"We had talks with police on 20th and 25th [May], but we feel that the government is determined to extinguish the event. It's disappointing, [for weeks] they've issued warnings, politicians have commented, they've done all they can do [to stop it]. It's part of a larger crackdown," Chow said.

The organizers had said they would comply with social-distancing measures in an effort to allow the event to go ahead but to no avail. Police confirmed that they had issued a ban on two events that had requested permission to go ahead: a public demonstration - set for May 30 - and a public gathering on June 4.

The letter received by HKA cited protocol under the Prevention and Control of Disease, stating that the COVID-19 situation was grave and that such gatherings posed a danger to public health.

Critics say that laws requiring social distancing during the pandemic have been used alongside a year-old national security law to crackdown on dissent in the city, which has traditionally had greater civil freedoms than mainland China. Chow said on Thursday they were undeterred by the ban.

"Our role is to stand our ground, to [still] resist and show that not everyone has been silenced," she said. Last year thousands turned up for the candlelit vigil, defying the first ban of the event in 31 years. High-profile activist Joshua Wong was one of the people convicted for attending last year's unauthorized Tiananmen gathering. Chow herself faces unauthorized assembly charges for taking part in the 2020 vigil.

WEEKLY FEATURE : TRUEMONEY PHILIPPINES BUCKS THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE