For the second 12 months in a row, the ocean of candlelight that used to light up Hong Kong’s Victoria Park each June 4 was extinguished, as authorities sought to snuff out all public commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square bloodbath from the town — the final place on Chinese managed soil the place they had been held.
But the heavy police presence on Saturday failed to discourage some Hongkongers from approaching the park and conducting their very own acts of commemoration in defiance — by holding up digital candles and telephone flashlights or quietly singing songs of remembrance.
“It’s heartbreaking to see (Victoria Park) like this,” mentioned a girl surnamed Lau who got here to the park with a bouquet of white and purple roses and electrical candles.
“Hong Kong has sunk far and quick right into a police state,” mentioned Lau, a longtime volunteer for the Tiananmen Mothers Campaign, a gaggle supporting the households of the victims.
For three a long time, Hong Kong had mourned the victims of China’s bloody navy crackdown on pro-democracy protesters with a candlelight vigil on the evening of June 4 that will be attended by tens of 1000’s of individuals vowing by no means to neglect.
But since 2020, the Hong Kong authorities has banned the occasion citing dangers from the COVID-19 coronavirus — although many Hongkongers consider that’s simply an excuse to clamp down on reveals of public dissent following pro-democracy protests that swept the town in 2019.
On Friday, a authorities assertion mentioned massive components of Victoria Park could be closed from Friday evening till the early hours of Sunday to “forestall any unauthorized assemblies which have an effect on public security and public order, and to stop the danger of virus transmission because of such gatherings.”
It got here a day after police warned that residents danger committing the crime of “illegal meeting” in the event that they confirmed up within the park — even when alone.
Throughout Saturday, massive numbers of police patrolled the park and the neighboring Causeway Bay procuring district.
Among these they stopped and searched had been individuals carrying black — the colour of protest in Hong Kong, carrying flowers or strolling with their telephone torches switched on.
Police confirmed later that they’d arrested 5 males and one girl, between the ages of 19 and 80. One was accused of possessing an offensive weapon; three had been accused of obstructing officers; and one was mentioned to have incited others to affix an unauthorised meeting. It was not clear what the sixth particular person was accused of.
The police additionally cordoned off an space of a close-by procuring road the place in earlier years pro-democracy activists would collect to advertise the vigil, sending some passersby there to be searched.
Still, some individuals had been decided to go to the park and make their very own small gestures of commemoration.
Lau, the Tiananmen Mothers Campaign volunteer, held up an electrical candle for a photograph in entrance of the barricaded soccer area. She mentioned she and her colleagues had been handing out electrical candles to Hongkongers all afternoon — in step with the group’s custom.
“I feel the vigil is an important image of Hong Kong individuals’s pursuit of freedom — it reveals the world our dependable dedication. I consider all of us have a candle lit in our hearts tonight, irrespective of whether or not we select to come back out or not,” she mentioned.
After dusk, the police sealed off extra areas of the park, driving residents out with advancing cordon traces. Eventually all of the entrances had been blocked off, permitting individuals solely to depart the park.
Inside the park, two ladies sang “Democracy Will Triumph and Return,” one of many vigil’s conventional songs, as they walked down a jogging path. Police adopted not far behind, urgent ahead the cordon line.
Brian, a person in his 30s dressed totally in black, switched on the flashlight of his telephone at 8 p.m., the normal lighting-up time. He did this regardless of having been searched by police whereas sitting within the park earlier within the night, when officers recorded his ID quantity. He mentioned he was able to pay the value.
“The authorities would not need us to inform the reality. If we do not come out, I fear that Hong Kong’s future generations will not find out about June 4 anymore,” he mentioned.
Outside the park, individuals who might now not enter walked alongside close by streets, some with their telephone flash lights turned on.
Joe, 46, introduced his 11-year-old daughter to the park, solely to be denied entry. They stood at a bus cease throughout the highway as a substitute, every holding an electrical candle.
“The candles are of a logo of Hong Kong’s remembrance, however now it looks like even holding them could possibly be harmful,” he mentioned.
Still, he was glad to have introduced his daughter alongside. “I need to let her recognized what occurred again then, as a lot as I can,” he mentioned.