Critics say the authorities are using the corona as an excuse and want to defeat dissidents as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong.
The sports fields at Victoria Park, Hong Kong’s most popular park, have been empty today, Saturday. Instead, hundreds of police officers have patrolled the park and the surrounding area.
The reason for the control and partial closure of Victoria Park is, according to the authorities, that the park could be used for “illegal activities”. Authorities have also spoken out about preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
In practice, Hong Kong wants to prevent the Tiananmen massacre from being remembered.
Exactly 33 years ago, the Chinese army crushed a peaceful demonstration by students demanding reforms in Tiananmen Square, or Tiananmen Square. At least hundreds of people died in the massacre.
China has banned reminiscences. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, on the other hand, has had the opportunity to talk about Tiananmen. Tens of thousands of people have been in the habit of gathering for a candlelight demonstration in Victoria Park on the anniversary.
Now those attending the “unauthorized assembly” face up to five years in prison.
“Everyone is keeping their mouths shut for fear of being arrested,” said the 57-year-old Hong Kong Victor news agency Reuters.
He did not want to reveal his last name to the public.
“Administration uses pandemic as an excuse”
Police stopped and checked several people near Victoria Park this Saturday. According to news agency AFP, police warned at least one of them not to try to hold the rally. At least one man was taken away in a police car, AFP says.
Hong Kong Regional Director Carrie Lam said this week that any recollection of the events of 1989 will be dealt with under national security law.
China passed the law in Hong Kong in the summer of 2020 after widespread democracy demonstrations. Under the law, an act that is considered terrorist or subversive can even result in a life sentence.
That means criticizing and dissenting Chinese politics is largely forbidden.
The commemoration of the anniversary of Tiananmen was banned in Hong Kong for the first time in 2020. Authorities appealed the restrictions due to coronary viruses.
Even today, Hong Kong has interest rate restrictions that prohibit the gathering of more than four people in public places as a general rule.
Activists say the pandemic is being used as an excuse to suppress freedom of assembly and the democracy movement.
Several leaders of the organization that hosted the Tiananmen Memorial in Hong Kong have been arrested and charged with subversive activities.
The Catholic Churches in Hong Kong will also be holding the Tiananmen Victims Memorial Mass for the first time in more than 30 years this year. The reason is that the fair could be considered a violation of national security law.
Taiwan is chasing China on its anniversary
The anniversary of Tiananmen is commemorated today, Saturday, around the world. One of the events is in the capital of Taiwan, Taipei.
Taiwan has a habit of criticizing China on its anniversary. China sees Taiwan as its rebel province, but Taiwan is virtually operating as an independent state.
The President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-Wenin according to Hong Kong, the collective memory of the fourth day of June is being systematically erased.
– People’s memories cannot be erased with brute force. When democracy is threatened and authoritarianism spreads in the world, democratic values must be defended, the president wrote in a somepost post.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, for its part, urged Chinese people using a VPN connection to search the Internet for information about Tiananmen to see what China is hiding.
All references to events in Tiananmen in China will be removed immediately from the internet and some services.
EU countries in Hong Kong some protest
Many Western embassies in Hong Kong have published pictures and writings in their homage honoring the victims of Tiananmen.
– Commemorating the attack on Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989 and its 33rd anniversary. The EU will always support human rights defenders around the world, the text reads.
According to local media, China’s foreign ministry has urged delegations to skip the statements, AFP says. The EU Foreign Service has confirmed that it has been contacted by the AFP.
The United States issued a statement on Saturday with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States will continue to hold China accountable for human rights abuses. In addition to Hong Kong, the statement mentions Tibet and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
China says it strongly condemns the statements made by Blinken and other U.S. officials. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the United States is seeking to interfere in China’s internal affairs under the guise of human rights, to tarnish the situation in Hong Kong and to incite discord.
Security measures in downtown Beijing were also tightened on Saturday. The roads leading to Tiananmen Square have had more police and checkpoints than usual.