For the first time since thirty years, the annual commemoration of the 1989 protests has been banned by the police in hong kong, the latter referring to the risks related to the epidemic of Covid-19, and recalling that gatherings of more than 8 persons are always to be avoided.
hong kong people hold candles at the Memorial of Chiang Kai-shek, also known as the Free Square, to mark the 31st anniversary of the crackdown of the 1989 Tiananmen square in Taipei June 4, 2020. SAM YEH / AFPUn large panel shows the goddess of democracy (top-center) and an inscription that reads “Free HK” “hong Kong freedom” on a sidewalk near Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP
Many have translated this decision as being directly related to the sharp political tensions between the activists of pro-democracy and responsible pro-Beijing. Defying the ban, thousands of hong kong people were still gathered on Thursday evening in the Victoria park to mark the 31st anniversary of the bloody crackdown in Tiananmen square. 20 hours local, the protesters have been invited to light candles where he stood.
The protesters gathered on the football pitches of Victoria park. In hong Kong, the June 4, 2020. TYRONE SIU / REUTERS
Gathered over several football pitches, candles in hand, the demonstrators chanted various slogans such as “Democracy for China now,” or “Liberate Hong Kong”. If the police did not intervene in the park, she has made several arrests during an attempt of dispersal of the crowd in the Mongkok.
hong kong people light candles as they attend a candlelight vigil in the Victoria park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2020 ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP
at the same time, the White House said do not forget the “massacre” in Tiananmen square. “It is a tragedy that will not be forgotten,” said Thursday night at the White House. “The United States calls on China to honour the memory of those who lost their lives and to provide a detailed report on those who have been killed, detained or are missing in connection with the events of Tiananmen square on 4 June 1989,” said the executive to the u.s. in a press release. “The massacre by the chinese communist Party of chinese civilians and unarmed was a tragedy that will not be forgotten,” added his spokesperson, Kayleigh McEnany.
A man, a candle in the hand, holds a poster showing the famous Jeff Widener’s “Tank Man” photo taken on 5 June 1989 in Beijing. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFPÀ read also : Beijing navigates the chaos to the United States to justify its grip on hong Kong
Washington also urges Beijing to “put an end to the systematic persecution of millions (of members) of ethnic and religious minorities”.
The bloody intervention of the chinese army in the night of 3 to 4 June 1989 had put an end to seven weeks of protests by students and workers against corruption and for democracy in China. The repression had been between several hundred and over a thousand dead. This is a taboo subject in China.
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