HONG KONG/TAIPEI – Hong Kong police mentioned they detained 23 individuals on Sunday for “breaching public peace” and arrested a 53-year-old girl for “obstructing police officers” as authorities ramped up safety for the thirty fourth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Restrictions in Hong Kong have stifled what had been as soon as the most important vigils marking the anniversary of the bloody crackdown by Chinese troops on pro-democracy demonstrators, leaving cities like Taipei, London, New York and Berlin to maintain the reminiscence of June 4 alive.
Near Victoria Park, the earlier web site of yearly vigils, tons of of police performed cease and search operations, and deployed armored autos and police vans.
Reuters witnesses noticed greater than a dozen individuals taken away, together with activist Alexandra Wong, 67, who carried a bouquet of flowers, a person who held a replica of “35th of May”, a play on the Tiananmen crackdown, and an aged man standing alone on a road nook with a candle.
“The regime wants you to forget, but you can’t forget… It (China) wants to whitewash all history,” mentioned Chris To, 51, who visited the park in a black t-shirt and was searched by police.
“We need to use our bodies and word of mouth to tell others what happened.”
Police on Monday mentioned officers took away 11 males and 12 girls aged between 20 and 74 who had been suspected of “breaching the public peace at the scene”.
Hong Kong activists say such police motion is a part of a broader marketing campaign by China to crush dissent within the metropolis that was promised continued freedoms for 50 years underneath a “one country, two systems” mannequin when Britain handed it again in 1997.
Security is considerably tighter throughout Hong Kong this 12 months, with as much as 6,000 police deployed, together with riot and anti-terrorism officers, in keeping with native media.
Senior officers have warned individuals to abide by the legislation, however have refused to make clear if such commemoration actions are unlawful underneath a nationwide safety legislation China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 after generally violent mass pro-democracy protests.
In a press release, police mentioned some had been arrested for seditious intent and for “breaching public peace”.
The United Nations mentioned on Monday it was “alarmed” by detentions in Hong Kong.
In Beijing, Tiananmen Square was thronged with vacationers taking photos underneath the watchful eyes of police and different personnel however with no apparent signal of stepped-up safety.
A bunch of family members referred to as the Tiananmen Mothers mentioned the anguish by no means ended.
“Though 34 years have passed, for us, family members of those killed, the pain of losing our loved ones in that one night has tormented us to this day,” the group mentioned in a press release launched by the New York-based watchdog Human Rights in China.
‘Clear conclusion’
Despite the warnings in Hong Kong, some people, together with ebook store homeowners, have been quietly marking June 4.
Jailed Hong Kong activist Chow Hang-tung, one of many leaders of a bunch referred to as The Alliance, which used to prepare the June 4 vigils, mentioned on Facebook that she would maintain a 34-hour starvation strike.
In mainland China, any point out of the Tiananmen Square crackdown — the place troops opened fireplace on pro-democracy protesters, killing tons of if not 1000’s, in keeping with rights teams — is taboo and the topic is closely censored.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, when requested in regards to the authorities’s response to occasions around the globe to mark the anniversary, mentioned in Beijing on Friday that the federal government had already come to a “clear conclusion about the political turmoil in the late 1980s”.
In democratically ruled Taiwan, the final remaining a part of the Chinese-speaking world the place the anniversary may be marked freely, tons of attended a memorial at Taipei’s Liberty Square the place a “Pillar of Shame” statue was displayed.
Peggy Kwan, 57, an interpreter on the occasion, expressed disappointment on the stifling of commemorations in Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong is moving backward,” she mentioned.
China claims Taiwan as its personal and has not renounced using pressure to make sure eventual unification. Taiwan Vice President William Lai, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate in an election subsequent January, wrote on his Facebook web page that the reminiscence of what occurred in Beijing in 1989 have to be preserved.
“The event commemorating June 4 has continued to be held in Taipei, which shows that democracy and authoritarianism are the biggest differences between Taiwan and China,” he mentioned.
In Sydney, considered one of greater than 30 locations in North America, Europe and Asia internet hosting commemoration occasions, dozens of demonstrators rallied on the Town Hall, chanting “free Hong Kong” whereas holding up placards and yellow umbrellas, the image of pro-democracy protests since 2014. —Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
