For the third time in a row, Hong Kong authorities have canceled the memorial service for the victims of the massacre on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen Square). As in the previous two years, a candlelight vigil was banned on the anniversary of the bloody crackdown on June 4, 1989. Police officers patrolled and cordoned off Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Saturday.
For a long time, the special administrative region was the only place in China where the victims of the Tiananmen massacre could be commemorated. Tens of thousands of people usually took part in the big candle service in Victoria Park. In the summer of 2020, however, Beijing introduced a harsh security law for Hong Kong – since then the vigil has not been allowed either.
After weeks of demonstrations and hunger strikes against corruption and for freedom of expression and democracy in the spring of 1989, the communist leadership called in the People’s Liberation Army to put an end to the protests in Beijing. The military action, which killed several hundred people, is a politically taboo topic in China. The Chinese leadership does not allow public discussion or commemoration of the anniversary.
