‘The government’s shameful attempt to prohibit people from marking the upcoming anniversary is an insult to those killed in the Tiananmen crackdown.’
Human rights organizations have slammed Hong Kong authorities for arresting six people, including Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, a well-known barrister and activist, for organizing remembrance activities ahead of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
On May 28, Hong Kong police arrested six people aged 37 to 65 for allegedly “acting with seditious intention” under the recently adopted Article 23 legislation (Safeguarding National Security Ordinance)—a sweeping new security law that critics say Beijing has used to eliminate the city’s dwindling freedom.
The police accused one female suspect of exploiting “an upcoming sensitive date to repeatedly publish posts with seditious intention on a social platform anonymously with the assistance of at least six arrested persons since April 2024, with content provoking hatred towards the Central Authorities and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Judiciary, as well as inciting netizens to organize or participate in relevant illegal activities at a later stage,” read a police statement.
The unidentified “upcoming sensitive date” appears to refer to June 4, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. On June 4, 1989, China’s ruling communist regime sent troops and tanks to the heart of the Chinese capital and opened fire on unarmed protesting students calling for democracy and a more open society. Since then, any mention of the incident has been strictly censored by the regime in mainland China.
Among the named arrests is Chow Hang-tung, the vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Democratic Patriotic Movements of China, who has been in custody since 2021 and faces multiple charges, including some related to her role in organizing a previous candlelight vigil commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
For the past three decades, Hong Kong as a former British colony had remained the only place on Chinese soil beyond Taiwan to host large-scale public candlelight vigils to memorialize the thousands of students killed at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
By Cindy Li
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