Hong Kong activists, diaspora attend Tiananmen anniversary vigils overseas amid ban in home city
Hong Kong activists and the diaspora attended candlelight vigils and other events around the world on Wednesday to mark the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, amid the city's ongoing ban on public commemorations of the event.
Hong Kong, once the only location on Chinese soil to host large-scale Tiananmen memorial vigils, has not held any large-scale gatherings since 2020, when authorities banned the annual event for the first time, citing Covid-19 restrictions. The ban was enforced again in 2021, nearly a year after a national security law imposed by Beijing came into effect.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong police patrolled Victoria Park, the former site of the annual vigils, and its vicinity, searching and taking away individuals suspected of mourning the crackdown victims.
The June 4 anniversaries have become annual activities in cities from Taipei to London, from Vancouver to Washington, DC.
More than 30 events were held in 20 cities around the world this year, from talks, exhibitions, and dramas to marches, assemblies, and candlelight vigils, according to international media reports. Some events attracted dozens of participants, while others drew hundreds or even thousands of attendees.
The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People's Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing.
Taiwan
On Wednesday evening, around 3,000 people braved the rain and showed up at Taipei's Liberty Square to commemorate the crackdown that took place 36 years ago, according to the New School for Democracy, one of the organisers.
The attendees held up digital memorial candles and observed 64 seconds of silence to mourn the victims of Beijing's crackdown.
The attendees included not only Taiwanese but also Hongkongers currently residing in Taiwan, according to the Taipei Times, a local newspaper.
'We faced a more challenging situation this year, not only because of threats from outside, but also due to challenges of limited resources,' the New School for Democracy said in Chinese on Facebook. 'That is exactly why we need to stand firm in continuing to host this assembly and to safeguard this piece of history.'
Canada
Hundreds of people gathered in Vancouver's David Lam Park on Wednesday evening to attend a candlelight vigil organised by the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (VSSDM).
The VSSDM also invited various speakers to share their memories of the Tiananmen crackdown and the changes in Hong Kong over the past few years.
One of them was Mak Hoi-wah, a former member of Hong Kong's Democratic Party and former vice chairperson of the defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China – a group that organised annual Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong.
As night fell, attendees lit candles distributed by the organiser to mourn the victims of the crackdown.
The VSSDM and the Toronto Association for Democracy in China (TADC) started holding activities to mark the Tiananmen crackdown on Sunday, according to Radio Canada International.
Around 2,000 people took part in a candlelight vigil organised by the TADC at North York Mel Lastman Square, Toronto, on Sunday.
Among the speakers were human rights activist Zhou Fengsuo, who survived the Tiananmen crackdown, and Hong Kong activist and former student leader Alex Chow.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also attended the vigil.
The student union at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the VSSDM invited people to lay wreaths at the statue of the Goddess of Democracy on the campus on Sunday morning.
United Kingdom
Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese embassy in London on Wednesday evening to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown.
Similar activities were also held in other cities across England, including Reading, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Kingston, and Chester, as well as in Scotland.
United States
On Wednesday evening, like in previous years, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation organised a candlelight vigil in front of its memorial statue in Washington, DC.
Self-exiled Hong Kong activist Frances Hui – one of 19 people wanted by the Hong Kong government on suspicion of committing national security offences – was among those who attended the vigil.
Events to mark the 36th anniversary of the crackdown were also held in New York in the US; Tokyo in Japan; Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth in Australia; and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asia Times
an hour ago
- Asia Times
Trump's Golden Dome will make US – and world
President Donald Trump's idea of a 'Golden Dome' missile defense system carries a range of potential strategic dangers for the United States. Golden Dome is meant to protect the US from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, and missiles launched from space. Trump has called for the missile defense to be fully operational before the end of his term in three years. Trump's goals for Golden Dome are likely beyond reach. A wide range of studies makes clear that even defenses far more limited than what Trump envisions would be far more expensive and less effective than Trump expects, especially against enemy missiles equipped with modern countermeasures. Countermeasures include multiple warheads per missile, decoy warheads and warheads that can maneuver or are difficult to track, among others. Regardless of Golden Dome's feasibility, there is a long history of scholarship about strategic missile defenses, and the weight of evidence points to the defenses making their host country less safe from nuclear attack. I'm a national security and foreign policy professor at Harvard University, where I lead 'Managing the Atom,' the university's main research group on nuclear weapons and nuclear energy policies. For decades, I've been participating in dialogues with Russian and Chinese nuclear experts – and their fears about US missile defenses have been a consistent theme throughout. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have already warned that Golden Dome is destabilizing. Along with US offensive capabilities, Golden Dome poses a threat of 'directly undermining global strategic stability, spurring an arms race and increasing conflict potential both among nuclear-weapon states and in the international arena as a whole,' a joint statement from China and Russia said. While that is a propaganda statement, it reflects real concerns broadly held in both countries. Golden Dome explained. Experience going back half a century makes clear that if the administration pursues Golden Dome, it is likely to provoke even larger arms buildups, derail already-dim prospects for any negotiated nuclear arms restraint, and perhaps even increase the chances of nuclear war. My first book, 35 years ago, made the case that it would be in the US national security interest to remain within the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which strictly limited US and Soviet – and later Russian – missile defenses. The United States and the Soviet Union negotiated the ABM Treaty as part of SALT I, the first agreements limiting the nuclear arms race. It was approved in the Senate 98-2. The ABM Treaty experience is instructive for the implications of Golden Dome today. Why did the two countries agree to limit defenses? First and foremost, because they understood that unless each side's defenses were limited, they would not be able to stop an offensive nuclear arms race. If each side wants to maintain the ability to retaliate if the other attacks – 'don't nuke me, or I'll nuke you' – then an obvious answer to one side building up more defenses is for the other to build up more nuclear warheads. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviets installed 100 interceptors to defend Moscow – so the United States targeted still more warheads on Moscow to overwhelm the defense. Had it ever come to a nuclear war, Moscow would have been even more thoroughly obliterated than if there had been no defense at all. Both sides came to realize that unlimited missile defenses would just mean more offense on both sides, leaving both less secure than before. In addition, nations viewed an adversary's shield as going hand in hand with a nuclear sword. A nuclear first strike might destroy a major part of a country's nuclear forces. Missile defenses would inevitably be more effective against the reduced, disorganized retaliation that they knew would be coming than they would be against a massive, well-planned surprise attack. That potential advantage to whoever struck first could make nuclear crises even more dangerous. Unfortunately, President George W Bush pulled the United States out of the ABM Treaty in 2002, seeking to free US development of defenses against potential missile attacks from small states such as North Korea. But even now, decades later, the US has fewer missile interceptors deployed (44) than the treaty permitted (100). The US pullout did not lead to an immediate arms buildup or the end of nuclear arms control. But Putin has complained bitterly about US missile defenses and the US refusal to accept any limitation at all on them. He views the US stance as an effort to achieve military superiority by negating Russia's nuclear deterrent. Russia is investing heavily in new types of strategic nuclear weapons intended to avoid US missile defenses, from an intercontinental nuclear torpedo to a missile that can go around the world and attack from the south, while US defenses are mainly pointed north toward Russia. Russia maintains a large force of nuclear weapons like this mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via APPEAR / The Conversation Similarly, much of China's nuclear buildup appears to be driven by wanting a reliable nuclear deterrent in the face of the United States' capability to strike its nuclear forces and use missile defenses to mop up the remainder. Indeed, China was so angered by South Korea's deployment of US-provided regional defenses – which they saw as aiding the US ability to intercept their missiles – that they imposed stiff sanctions on South Korea. Now, Trump wants to go much further, with a defense 'forever ending the missile threat to the American homeland,' with a success rate 'very close to 100%.' I believe that this effort is highly likely to lead to still larger nuclear buildups in Russia and China. The Putin-Xi joint statement pledges to 'counter' defenses 'aimed at achieving military superiority.' Given the ease of developing countermeasures that are extraordinarily difficult for defenses to overcome, odds are the resulting offense-defense competition will leave the United States worse off than before – and a good bit poorer. Putin and Xi made clear that they are particularly concerned about the thousands of space-based interceptors Trump envisions. These interceptors are designed to hit missiles while their rockets are still burning during launch. Most countries are likely to oppose the idea of deploying huge numbers of weapons in space – and these interceptors would be both expensive and vulnerable. China and Russia could focus on further developing anti-satellite weapons to blow a hole in the defense, increasing the risk of space war. Already, there is a real danger that the whole effort of negotiated limits to temper nuclear arms racing may be coming to an end. The last remaining treaty limiting US and Russian nuclear forces, the New START Treaty, expires in February 2026. China's rapid nuclear buildup is making many defense officials and experts in Washington call for a US buildup in response. Intense hostility all around means that for now, neither Russia nor China is even willing to sit down to discuss nuclear restraints, in treaty form or otherwise. In my view, adding Golden Dome to this combustible mix would likely end any prospect of avoiding a future of unrestrained and unpredictable nuclear arms competition. But paths away from these dangers are available. It would be quite plausible to design defenses that would provide some protection against attacks from a handful of missiles from North Korea or others that would not seriously threaten Russian or Chinese deterrent forces – and design restraints that would allow all parties to plan their offensive forces knowing what missile defenses they would be facing in the years to come. I believe that Trump should temper his Golden Dome ambitions to achieve his other dream – of negotiating a deal to reduce nuclear dangers. Matthew Bunn is professor of the practice of energy, national security and foreign policy, Harvard Kennedy School This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Thanks
HKFP
3 hours ago
- HKFP
‘Freer country': Gay Chinese couple fulfil wedding dream in Thailand
When Wang Zengyi, 41, and Song Jihan, 29, first met at a friend's dinner party in China, it was love at first sight. 'I thought he was handsome and pure,' says Wang. 'Our love has deepened over time.' Nearly three years later, the gay Chinese couple are getting married in Thailand, which became Asia's largest nation to legalise same-sex marriage earlier this year -– including for foreign couples. They are among the first Chinese LGBTQ pairs to tie the knot in the Southeast Asian country as it celebrates its first Pride since the law's passage. 'Thailand is a freer country,' said Wang after they signed their marriage certificate at a Bangkok registry office. 'It's also more inclusive to our community.' He believes they are the first gay Chinese couple to host a full wedding ceremony in Thailand, but that 'gradually' more will follow in their footsteps. 'I think we are unique so far… but I hope we can have a positive influence.' Embed from Getty Images They enlisted the help of an agent and a consultant to organise the wedding and paperwork to finally make their dream come true. Bureaucratic hurdles Chinese authorities decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, but same-sex marriage is not legal and social stigma is widespread. Despite a period of relative relaxation in the 2000s to mid-2010s, rights groups say recent years have seen a crackdown on the community's spaces and freedom of expression. Real estate agent Owen Zhu has a property business in Thailand that also helps gay Chinese couples come to Thailand to get married. Zhu, 40, said that the biggest difficulties couples like Wang and Song face are linked to paperwork, as well as prejudice. It is difficult for Chinese LGBTQ individuals to obtain the certificate of single status required by Thailand proving that they are not married, he told AFP. China also does not recognise same-sex marriages registered abroad. Embed from Getty Images But Zhu believes that despite China's bureaucratic hurdles, there will be a rise in the number of Chinese couples looking to wed and even live long-term in Thailand. 'There is large market demand from many Chinese same-sex couples,' he says. 'Thailand is a particularly tempting place, allowing freedom to do things not possible in China, like holding hands or kissing in public with a partner. In China, they may not dare do such things.' Zhu says the simple act of signing a marriage document is deeply meaningful for his clients. 'Though this piece of paper might not be recognised in China, in their hearts, they see it as recognition and acceptance from the world,' he says. Love ballads, vows More than 30 countries have legalised marriage for all since the Netherlands became the first to allow same-sex unions in 2001. Thailand was the third place in Asia after Taiwan and Nepal. The kingdom ranks high on recent indexes measuring public attitudes towards LGBTQ people, but matching legal structures were absent before it passed the same-sex marriage bill in a historic parliamentary vote last June. Thousands of couples across the kingdom tied the knot in a mass wedding the day same-sex unions became legal in January this year. Embed from Getty Images Chris Yan, a legal consultant who helped Wang and Song navigate Thai administration to formalise their partnership, says the process for foreigners to register their marriage in Thailand is fairly smooth as long as they can provide the necessary documents. 'I believe it is more advanced than many other countries, since the cost in Thailand is quite low,' he says. 'They can stay in the country for longer and processing the documents is quicker.' Surrounded by dozens of close friends and their ring-bearing small fluffy dog, Wang and Song sing love ballads to each other on a sandy Pattaya beach before tearfully reading their wedding vows. Embed from Getty Images They will return home to China after their honeymoon, but hope to eventually retire in Thailand. Life is short, is the message they have for other couples like them. Wang said: 'Be with the one you want to be with.' Original reporting on HKFP is backed by our monthly contributors. Almost 1,000 monthly donors make HKFP possible. Each contributes an average of HK$200/month to support our award-winning original reporting, keeping the city's only independent English-language outlet free-to-access for all. Three reasons to join us: 🔎 Transparent & efficient: As a non-profit, we are externally audited each year, publishing our income/outgoings annually, as the city's most transparent news outlet. 🔒 Accurate & accountable: Our reporting is governed by a comprehensive Ethics Code. We are 100% independent, and not answerable to any tycoon, mainland owners or shareholders. Check out our latest Annual Report, and help support press freedom.
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
HK eyes open to real China after fall of Western-allied opposition
Going by some past Western media reports, China tried to ban Christmas. Ironically, though, many Hongkongers chose to celebrate last Christmas on the mainland because of attractions such as special festive events at giant shopping centres as well as superior services and affordable rates at top hotels in Shenzhen and nearby cities. Advertisement Last Christmas Eve alone, more than 289,000 Hongkongers crossed into Shenzhen . But that wasn't unusual. Nowadays, people dine and shop daily, and do much else, across the border. So much for our supposed fear of a 'totalitarian' mainland! Has China suddenly become the land of the free, or are people starting to realise the communist bogeyman has been a figment of their own imagination, spoon-fed to them by our Western-funded opposition? For the better part of two decades, many people sadly bought into the myth sold by the opposition that any mainland activity and policy in the city had a nefarious design. In 2017, a joint customs and immigration checkpoint being set up at the West Kowloon terminus of the cross-border high-speed rail was denounced as spelling the end of 'one country, two systems'. Supposedly, mainland agents stationed there would detain Hong Kong people and they would disappear at will! In 2018, the opposition and its semi-official mouthpiece, the now-defunct Apple Daily, absurdly rounded on People's Liberation Army soldiers for helping to clean up massive debris left by a particularly nasty typhoon, in empty country parks, not in crowded districts! Advertisement Any commentary, however mild, from Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong was criticised as interfering in local affairs. However, the same opposition leaders routinely went to Washington and other Western capitals to lobby them to sanction their own city and officials.
