HONG KONG: Hong Kong police detained a prominent pro-democracy activist and at least seven others on Sunday (Jun 4), the 34th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in China. For years, Hong Kongers would converge on the city's Victoria Park and its surrounding neighbourhood to commemorate th
HONG KONG: Hong Kong police detained a prominent pro-democracy activist and at least seven others on Sunday , the 34th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in China.
By late afternoon, AFP reporters witnessed at least eight people taken away by police in vans - including Alexandra Wong, a well-known pro-democracy activist better known as"Grandma Wong".Another woman who shouted"Raise candles! Mourn 64!" - a shorthand for the sensitive date - was also detained, along with a young man dressed in black carrying a book.
But the annual vigil at Victoria Park has been banned since 2020, when Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law to quell dissent after massive, and at times violent protests. Over the weekend, sites of more recent protests - a bridge in Beijing where a"freedom" banner was unfurled, and Wulumuqi Street in Shanghai where demonstrations happened in November - also saw heightened security.
On Sunday, there were pockets of defiance around Hong Kong - a shop gave away candles, while a bookstore displayed Tiananmen Square archival material.Sidestepping questions about whether public mourning was allowed, Hong Kong's leader John Lee had maintained that the public must act according to the law or"be ready to face the consequences".
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