Hong Kong activist keeping promise he made 30 years ago to ensure Tiananmen Square crackdown is not forgotten

On June 4, 1989, Leung Kwok-wah arrived in Beijing to find rows of tanks on the road, with citizens blocking soldiers from entering capital

Locals had said he needed to tell people in Hong Kong what had happened, and he has done so ever since

Reading Time:2 minutes

Leung Kwok-wah says he takes a day off every year to help out at the Hong Kong vigil. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 8:00pm, 28 May 2019Updated: 12:50pm, 29 May 2019

On the morning of June 4, 1989, bank employee Leung Kwok-wah was waiting for his flight from Hong Kong to Beijing, ready to start his holiday.

To get in the mood for his Trans-Siberian Railway journey from Beijing to Moscow, the then 30-year-old had deliberately not checked the news from the night before and did not know the bloody crackdown at Tiananmen Square had occurred.

He learned the news on the plane, and arrived in Beijing to find rows of tanks and military vehicles on the road, with citizens blocking the soldiers from entering the capital. Transport to the railway station in the city centre was blocked.

Some mainlanders asked if he was from Hong Kong. “They said I needed to tell people in Hong Kong what had happened, that the government had committed murder,” recalled Leung, now 60 and a community organiser for the Democratic Party.

Choking back tears, he added: “I promised them that I would do so. I felt a sense of calling.”

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x