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Hong Kong pro-independence activists question value of annual June 4 vigil to commemorate crackdown at Tiananmen Square

  • Activists tell forum it is better to learn from failure of pro-democracy campaign than to remember it every year
  • Student localism partly blamed for event’s declining turnout

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From left to right: Wayne Chan of the Hong Kong Independence Union, Baggio Leung of the Hong Kong National Front and Tony Chung of Student Localism at a June 4 forum on Sunday at the University of Hong Kong. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
Pro-independence activists in Hong Kong have called for an end to the city’s annual June 4 vigil to commemorate Beijing’s military crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
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The activists said at a forum on Sunday it was more important to learn from the failure of the Beijing students’ pro-democracy campaign than to remember it every year.

Baggio Leung Chung-hang, of the Hong Kong National Front, also questioned the event organisers’ aim of establishing democracy in China.

“Hong Kong would suffer from China’s democratisation because, in terms of population, Hong Kong is a very small minority. And in the parliament, our concerns would not be heeded,” he said.

Leung was elected to the legislature in 2016, but was eventually disqualified for taking an improper oath of office.
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(L-R): Tonyee Chow of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Wayne Chan of the Hong Kong Independence Union and Baggio Leung of the Hong Kong National Front at a June 4 forum on Sunday. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
(L-R): Tonyee Chow of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Wayne Chan of the Hong Kong Independence Union and Baggio Leung of the Hong Kong National Front at a June 4 forum on Sunday. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
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