Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil has been banned, but the city’s spirit of commemoration for June 4th shines on

Name: Hongkongers vow to remember Tiananmen Square crackdown, despite ban of annual vigil
Uploaded: 2020-06-03T01:00:29.000Z
Duration: 4 min 31 s
Description: Hongkongers vow to remember Tiananmen Square crackdown, despite ban of annual vigil

The cancellation of the event amid the Covid-19 pandemic has raised fears it will be permanently scrubbed from the political calendar

The vigil is under a fresh spotlight this year as Beijing moves forward with a tailor-made national security law for Hong Kong

Reading Time:6 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

The candlelight vigil in Victoria Park was attended by more than 180,000 people last year. Photo: Sam Tsang

Holly Chik,Kimmy ChungandJeffie Lam

Published: 9:00am, 3 Jun 2020Updated: 9:42am, 3 Jun 2020

Honouring lost lives with white flowers, lit candles, evocative songs and speeches has long been part of the annual Tiananmen Square vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park. But none of that can happen at this year’s anniversary.

The cancellation of the event for the first time in 30 years has upset political exiles, the event’s organisers and faithful participants who have decried the move, saying the only large-scale public gathering on Chinese soil to remember the crackdown, a taboo subject in the country’s recent history, risks being permanently scrubbed from the political calendar.

Zhou Fengsuo, a student leader during the Tiananmen Square protests who now lives in exile in the United States, told the Post he was distressed to learn that the city’s police had banned this year’s vigil because of social-distancing rules in place over the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The generation of 1989 and those who experienced the protests in person have always yearned for and paid close attention to the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong, no matter where we are, for 30 years. It means a lot to us,” the 52-year-old said.

“When the Communist Party tried everything to obliterate the memory of the crackdown, candles in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park continued to be held up, and comforted sufferers. It is so precious that no other commemoration can replace it.”

04:31

Hongkongers vow to remember Tiananmen Square crackdown, despite ban of annual vigil

Since 1990, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China has held the vigil in remembrance of the crackdown ordered by Beijing on June 4, 1989 to end a weeks-long, student-led democracy protest.

When the Communist Party tried everything to obliterate the memory of the crackdown, candles in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park continued to be held up

Zhou Fengsuo, a student leader during the Tiananmen Square protests

The gathering in Victoria Park, an annual ritual of sombre tribute to the struggle of the students, was attended by more than 180,000 people last year.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x