Hong Kongers in Taiwan commemorate Tiananmen Square crackdown
STORY: :: Candlelight vigil held in Taiwan to commemorate China's bloody 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square
:: June 4, 2025
:: Taipei, Taiwan
:: Matthew Lai, Vigil organizer
"Since Hong Kong can no longer commemorate June 4th, many Hongkongers overseas have organized their own vigils, except in Taiwan, a place closest to Hong Kong. Now that commemoration is no longer possible in Hong Kong, those of us who have come to Taiwan, a land of freedom, we have an even greater responsibility to speak out."
The events on and around the central Beijing square on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end student-led pro-democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in China, which treats the date as taboo and allows no public remembrance.
China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into thousands. China blamed the protests on counter-revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the ruling Communist Party.
For the first time, Hong Kongers in Taiwan held their own June Fourth vigil in Taipei. The gathering took place at 228 Peace Memorial Park and was attended by dozens of people, most of whom are Hong Kongers living in Taiwan.
Commemorations in Hong Kong, which once drew tens of thousands of people annually, have been shut down since a new security law took effect in 2020.
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