Tens of thousands of people last night mourned the dead of Tiananmen Square, showing that the brutal crackdown 12 years ago had not been forgotten.
Defying claims that support has been falling, people soon filled up Victoria Park carrying lighted candles.
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China put the turnout at 48,000, about 3,000 more than it claimed last year. Up to 70,000 people were said to have participated in 1999 on the 10th anniversary.
Some organisers feared the turnout for this year's commemoration would be the lowest in recent years after a lukewarm response to a rally on May 27.
But alliance chairman Szeto Wah said after the vigil: 'It shows that the heart of Hong Kong people has not died.'
He believed more people had participated to counter the general view that support for the democracy movement was waning.