Hong Kong officials absent from ceremony marking anniversary of end of Japanese occupation
- One organiser says it’s the first year in decades that Hong Kong officials haven’t attended
- Representatives of the consuls general of Canada, the UK and the US, and from the Hong Kong Prisoners of War Association, laid wreaths at the event
Representatives from the Hong Kong government were absent from a ceremony on Sunday that marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the Japanese occupation of the city in World War II.
The annual ceremony, held on Sunday morning at the City Hall Garden of Remembrance in Central, marked the 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, when Hong Kong first learned of Japan’s 1945 surrender after three years and eight months of occupation.
The ceremony was held amid the city’s ongoing third wave of Covid-19 cases, with social distancing rules implemented, but organisers said Hong Kong government officials were not in attendence.
“I was very surprised they paid no recognition of the veterans. The absence was the first as far as I’ve attended the annual event for decades,” said Ronald Taylor, Honorary President of the Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) Association, one of the organisers.
Representatives of the consuls general of Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, and representatives from the Hong Kong Prisoners of War Association laid wreaths at the event, while lancemen from the Hong Kong Adventure Corps stood sentry by the shrine while guests observed a moment of silence.
Taylor said that Hong Kong government’s representatives, including Joyce Lee Tsz-ching, director of protocol, were expected to attend the annual event but informed the organisers on Friday that they were not able to attend, without citing reasons.
“They [told] us within very short notice that Lee wouldn’t come to lay the wreath on behalf of Hong Kong. They didn’t explain the reasons behind,” Taylor said, adding that the annual events were attended by representatives of the Protocol Division under the administration wing of the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Office.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong government confirmed that Lee, the director of protocol, did not attend the event but declined to explain why.
Due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, the public and press were not allowed to attend, while a planned parade from Hung Hom to the Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Centre was also cancelled.
The arrest last week of Agnes Chow Ting, among other Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, under the national security law complicated Sino-Japanese ties a bit given her popularity there. Chow often delivered messages to her 500,000 Twitter followers in fluent Japanese, and her arrest prompted pro-US Japanese politicians to urge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to review his diplomatic strategy toward China.
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The Japanese surrender in 1945 came after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, respectively.
Sunday also marked the anniversary of the day that Hong Kong soldiers being held as prisoners of war in the Sham Shui Po camp were finally able to make arrangements to meet with their families, whom many had not seen since December of 1941.
There is another official memorial ceremony held annually on September 3 in the city to commemorate China’s victory in the People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, with senior government officials attending.
