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It's a first as CCTV covers the Victoria Park candle-light vigil

Last Wednesday's candle-light vigil in Victoria Park to mark the 19th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown received some surprising media coverage.

It was covered on the website of government-controlled China Central Television, although the report said people gathered 'to mourn victims of the Sichuan earthquake' and did not mention anything about the pro-democracy movement in 1989.

Under the headline '40,000 Hong Kong residents attending vigil to mourn killed compatriots in the earthquake', the report gave a brief description of the annual event and carried six photographs.

It said many Hong Kong residents went to Victoria Park to mourn the earthquake victims.

'The vigil lasted for about two hours. It included recitals, singing, a moment of silence and laying a wreath to the martyrs,' the report said without explaining who the martyrs were.

'The organiser collected donations from the public and passed on the donations to the Hong Kong Red Cross. The money will be used for reconstruction in the quake zone in Sichuan,' it said.

The report described the gathering as 'huge' and said rainfall failed to dampen Hong Kong residents' passion for the event.

'The vigil expressed the Hong Kong public's mourning for their compatriots. The candlelight drifted in from all corners and soon formed a luminous ocean. The organisers said more than 48,000 people attended the event. The crowd was big enough to fill five football pitches,' it said.

It was the first time in 19 years that a mainland central media organisation had reported the annual vigil in Hong Kong in any form.

Mainland authorities have refused to apologise for the crackdown on the student-led pro-democracy movement in 1989, which is only refers to as the 'June 4 incident'.

Last year, a newspaper in Chengdu published an advertisement commemorating the victims of June 4. The editor was later fired. An official investigation found the advertisement was published because the person in charge of the section was young and had never heard of the incident. When she received an advertisement order to 'commemorate June 4 victims', she thought it was meant for people who died in a traffic accident or natural disaster.

The Tiananmen vigil is an annual event in Hong Kong. This year, apart from paying respects to those who died in 1989, the gathering was also held to mourn victims of last month's earthquake.

The CCTV website report was challenged by many mainland internet users, while others said that they were encouraged by the 'subtle' change.

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