LED candles are placed on a payphone near Victoria Park in Hong Kong on the 4th (local time). The crackdown continued this year as Hong Kong authorities banned gatherings to commemorate the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen for the third year in a row. | AP Yonhap News
The Tiananmen incident, in which citizens demanding China’s democratization collapsed in the bloody suppression of the military, is being forgotten not only in mainland China but also in Hong Kong due to the ‘history erasure’ by the Chinese authorities.
Last 4th was the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Democratization Protests, in which the bloody suppression of the Chinese army once morest the Tiananmen protesters took place. However, the Tiananmen protests in China that day were treated as non-existent. In the ‘Today’s History’ section of Baidu, China’s largest portal site, ‘Iran Khomeini’s supreme leader evacuated’ was introduced as it happened on June 4, 1989. If you type 6·4 into the search bar, you might find no Tiananmen protests, except for the massacre that took place in Burkina Faso. According to the Wall Street Journal, users of Chinese social networking services (SNS) such as Weibo, WeChat, and Douin were not able to change their profile picture and personal status on that day. It was a measure to block the use of social media to commemorate victims.
When asked regarding the position of the victims of the Tiananmen Square incident at a regular briefing on the 2nd, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhao Lijian briefly replied, “The Chinese government has already reached a clear conclusion regarding the political upheaval that occurred in the late 1980s.” In the 3rd historic resolution adopted in November last year, China defined the Tiananmen protests as “severe political storms”. Regarding the suppression of the protests, he said, “The party and government defended the fundamental interests of the people and the regime of a socialist state with the banner of clearly opposing the turmoil by relying on the people.” Accordingly, in China, not only commemorating the Tiananmen protests, but also discussion itself is taboo.
It is now impossible to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen protests in Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities closed Victoria Park from 11pm on the 3rd to 12:30am on the 5th, one day before the 33rd anniversary of the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen. Victoria Park has been the site of a large-scale rally to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen protests every year since 1990. In 2020, even when protests were banned under the pretext of preventing the spread of COVID-19, regarding 20,000 citizens gathered to light candles. Again this year, armed police deployed around the park and throughout the city center focused on blocking the illegal protests by searching for passing citizens. Inspections were conducted mainly on those who wore black clothes or had flowers in their hands. Police officers told people who light LED candles to “give up” or even turned off lights to passersby who turned on their cell phone lights, saying they might be charged with participating in an illegal assembly.
AFP reported on the 3rd that a performance artist cut a potato into candles and pretended to light it with a lighter, but was immediately caught and taken to a police car. Lau Shanqing of the Hong Kong civic group Social Democratic Movement was wearing a mask with the phrase “June 4th Memorial” near the park and was wearing a T-shirt depicting Li Wangyang, who served 22 years in prison following participating in the 1989 Tiananmen protests. arrested According to Hong Kong’s Myongbo, six people were arrested in connection with the protests that day. They were arrested on charges of possession of a weapon, obstruction of a police officer, and incitement to an unauthorized assembly.
The candlelight vigil in Hong Kong held every year on June 4 was a representative event symbolizing one country, two systems. However, since the introduction of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020, the Chineseization of Hong Kong has rapidly progressed, and the candlelight vigil has disappeared. Even religious commemoration has disappeared this year as the Catholic Hong Kong diocese decided not to hold a mass to commemorate the Tiananmen protests because of concerns regarding the national security law. “The ban appears to be part of a move to completely eliminate political differences,” the Associated Press said.
The U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong lit a candle by a window in tribute to the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests on the 4th (local time). | Archyde.com Yonhap News
In response to China’s ‘erasing history’, efforts to ‘keep the candles’ continued overseas. On the 4th (local time), a model tank made of paper appeared in front of the Chinese embassy in London, England, and some people performed a performance lying in front of the tank. Models of Chinese military tanks were also erected on the streets of India. In Taiwan, hundreds of citizens made ‘8964’ with candles and shouted to remember June 4, 1989. In Sydney, Australia, regarding 50 democratic activists gathered in front of the Chinese consulate to make the shape of ’64-89′ with candles. In addition to these areas, Amnesty International said that events to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen protests were held in San Francisco, Washington, Sydney, Oslo and Paris that day.
The international community also remembered the Tiananmen protests. US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln described the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen protests as “cruel violence” and said “Every year we honor and remember those who supported human rights and fundamental freedoms.” In a Facebook post, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said in a Facebook post regarding the ban on gatherings related to the Tiananmen protests in Hong Kong, saying “I believe that such violent means cannot erase people’s memories.” Consulates of the United States, Finland, and the European Union (EU) in Hong Kong posted pictures of candles lit by the window as a tribute to them on social media. British Consul General in Hong Kong, Brian Davidson, said on Facebook: “The freedom to discuss, discuss and disagree is fundamental to learning the lessons of the past. As an eyewitness to Beijing in 1989, I look back on the 4th of June every year.” In response, the Chinese foreign ministry office in Hong Kong urged “immediately stop playing with fire” and “immediately stop the deceptive political show”.
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