Hong Kong localists voice frustrations and call for independence at alternative rally for June 4

While tens of thousands lit candles in Victoria Park on June 4, protesters unhappy with the vigil’s emphasis on mainland democracy rather than Hong Kong joined an alternative rally under the clock tower in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Police put the number of people joining Thursday’s rally, organised by Civic Passion and other localist groups, at 790. Younger faces made up the majority of the crowd, listening to speakers stress that local affairs should be the priority and call for a rethink of the role of Hongkongers in the national democratic movement.

Many speakers and participants had a dim view of the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the Victoria Park vigil to mark the bloody crackdown on the 1989 democracy campaign in Beijing.

“The alliance is behind our time, whether it is the form [of commemoration] or the demands,” said a 22-year-old participant who works in insurance.

“Patriotism has now become a controversial subject and it shouldn’t have been the focus in the first place,” added the protester, who joined the Victoria Park vigil last year. “It’s easier to reach consensus if we focus on, say, holding the culprits for the [Tiananmen] massacre responsible.”

Another rally attendee, who would not give her full name due to the “sensitive” nature of her job, said her main grievance with the alliance was that its leaders refused to pass the torch to the young.

“Just look at who makes speeches on stage, it’s always the same faces after all these years,” said the woman in her 40s, who was also at the alternative event for the first time.