Alliance surmounts obstacles to keep candle burning for the June 4 vigil
It's long been Hong Kong's most visible June 4 remembrance. But the candlelight vigil's organisers this year faced unprecedented challenges
For 24 years, a group of Hongkongers has ensured that the city honours the protesters of Tiananmen Square with a public grieving - an event too dangerous to stage on the mainland.
This year, despite rival protests in Hong Kong and efforts by mainland authorities to quash commemorations there, at least 100,000 people gathered in Victoria Park last night to remember the Chinese citizens who pushed for democracy in 1989.
Since the first anniversary of the bloody crackdown, the candlelight vigil in Victoria Park has become the leading annual event of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China. As it continues to fight for democracy on the mainland, the alliance has recently faced unprecedented challenges - tighter surveillance, more detentions, a split in Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, and even competing commemorations.
Of course, the group's biggest goals have yet to be met: the release of all dissidents, and convincing the government to accurately account for the slaughter, including its reasons for using deadly force on peaceful demonstrators. "Reverse the verdict on June 4. Fight to the end," is the this year's slogan.
Watch: Hong Kong hosts China's largest -- and only -- 25th anniversary Tiananmen remembrance rally