Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil: police close down part of Victoria Park to stop candlelight gatherings for banned June 4 event
- Police surround football pitches and lawn areas of Causeway Bay park on Friday afternoon
- Move comes as force deploys 7,000 officers across city to prepare for potential protests amid online calls for people to gather
At around 5pm, a police water cannon truck and two armoured vehicles were seen near Olympic railway station in West Kowloon, heading towards the Western Harbour Tunnel and onwards to Hong Kong Island. The police vehicles were commonly deployed during the anti-government protests in 2019 but had not been seen on June 4 in the past.
The Post was told the water cannon was moved from the Police Tactical Unit headquarters in Fanling to the force’s training college in Wong Chuk Hang and put on standby.
An hour earlier, at about 4pm, police officers stopped traffic near the entrance and exit of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, as well as the Eastern and Western harbour crossings for about 10 minutes to set up roadblocks. A police source later said they were put up to carry out stop-and-search checks.
Around 2pm, officers surrounded the football pitches, central lawn and other areas of Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to prevent public access.
Senior Superintendent Liauw Ka-kei said that starting from 2pm much of the park was off-limits and anyone who tried to get into those areas by breaking through police lines would be in violation of the law. He did not set a definite time for lifting the cordons.