Hong Kong’s leftover Tiananmen activists face cynicism, powerlessness and growing resignation that 1989 protesters may never be vindicated
The June 4 crackdown was a watershed moment for many Hongkongers, shaping their identity and world view. But the city’s younger residents, fresh from the 2014 Occupy movement, see little virtue in struggling for a change they believe will never come
Pang Ho-wang cuts an isolated figure as he hands out leaflets on a footbridge in the busy shopping district of Mong Kok.
He is one of a dwindling number of young people in Hong Kong with more than just a passing interest in Monday’s anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
The 22-year-old competes for the attention of local shoppers and tourists from mainland China against a myriad of promoters dishing out fliers for the various sales at nearby stores.
Many passing by display indifference to the bloody events that occurred in Beijing 29 years ago, when hundreds, possibly more than 1,000, lost their lives.
But Pang – affectionately known by his friends as Panda – is determined not to let that dark page in Chinese history fade into obscurity. He and his colleagues from the Federation of Social Work Students are calling on Hongkongers not to forget the violent crackdown almost three decades ago, when Beijing sent soldiers and tanks onto the streets of the capital to end a weeks-long protest calling for democracy and other political reforms.
Hongkongers march amid heatwave to remember June 4 crackdown
It is a task many in Hong Kong have taken as a duty since 1989. But for some the will to continue is wilting as memories fade and China transforms into a country unrecognisable from those heady, idealistic days.