National security law: can Hongkongers still hold June 4 commemorative events marking anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown?
- Political pundits say Beijing-imposed national security law has sounded a death knell for assemblies commemorating 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown
- No opposition group has currently signalled any intention to apply to police or authorities to hold events related to June 4
For three decades, Hong Kong was the only city on Chinese soil where large-scale activities were held to mourn those killed in the incident, with the annual June 4 vigil at Victoria Park leading the occasion.
The introduction of the security law on June 30, 2020 – which bans acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – sounded the death knell for such assemblies, according to political pundits.
A liberal legal scholar suggested that there might be a need for a yet-to-be-enacted local version of the security law, as required under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, to clarify the definition of sedition, while pro-Beijing analysts “advised” the public not to hold any form of group commemorations which might be deemed illegal.
“The public can mourn the June 4 incident but do not have to show up at Victoria Park together, wear black or chant slogans. These might all draw suspicions from law enforcement agencies,” executive councillor and barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah said. “There might only be more clarity some years later when Beijing’s national security law has been implemented in the city for a few years, with more cases to refer to.”
For three consecutive years, Hong Kong authorities have banned holding “other events”, including a vigil, in the iconic Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, citing public health concerns arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The football pitches in the park, however, are available for booking for sports on June 4, but not for “other purposes”, authorities said on Tuesday.