Hong Kong student groups snub candlelight vigil to remember bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, saying there is no moral duty to attend
Hongkongers aren’t responsible for fighting for end of one-party rule and democracy in mainland China, student union leaders argue
Hongkongers do not have a moral duty to attend the annual vigil at Victoria Park commemorating the June 4 crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, according to local student union groups.
The goals espoused by the organiser, the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – of helping to spur democratic development in mainland China and ending one-party rule – are no longer the city’s responsibility, they argue.
This view was put forth on Monday, 29 years to the day after the violent suppression of pro-democracy activists in the nation’s capital, even as the US issued a statement urging the international community to press Beijing to “make a full public accounting” of those killed during the incident.
“Putting an end to one-party dictatorship and building a democratic China are no longer what we’re all calling for today,” said Davin Kenneth Wong, president of the University of Hong Kong Student Union, which represents 16,000 students at the city’s oldest university.
Speaking on a radio programme on Monday, Wong said Hongkongers had a different cultural identity from people on the mainland.