HUNDREDS SHOW UP AT HK PARK TO COMMEMORATE TIANANMEN MASSACRE

Hundreds of people gathered near a Hong Kong Park on Friday, June 4, 2021, despite a ban on an annual candlelight vigil remembering China’s deadly crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, and the arrest earlier in the day of an organizer of previous vigils.

Hong Kong police banned the vigil for a second straight year, citing coronavirus social distancing restrictions, although there have been no local cases in the semi-autonomous Chinese city for more than six weeks, Zen Soo reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Police closed off large parts of Victoria Park — the venue of past vigils — in the city’s popular Causeway Bay shopping district and warned people not to participate in unauthorized assemblies, which carry a penalty of up to five years in jail.

Despite the ban and a heavy police presence, hundreds of people still turned up Friday night to walk along the perimeter of the park.

At 8 p.m., many turned on the flashlights on their smartphones while others lit candles in remembrance of those who lost their lives when China’s military put down student-led pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Hundreds, if not thousands, were killed in the crackdown.

China’s ruling Communist Party has never allowed public events on the mainland to mark the anniversary and security was increased at the Beijing square, with police checking pedestrians’ IDs as tour buses shuttled Chinese tourists in and out.

Chinese officials say the country’s rapid economic development in the years since what they call the “political turmoil” of 1989 proves that decisions made at the time were correct.

In past years, tens of thousands of people have gathered in Victoria Park to honor the dead.

Last year, thousands attended despite the ban to light candles and sing songs. Police later charged more than 20 activists with participating in the event.

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