Hundreds show up around Hong Kong park despite ban

People in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong on Friday, after police closed the venue where they gather annually to mourn the victims of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. Pic/AFP

Hundreds of people gathered near a Hong Kong park on Friday despite a ban on an annual candlelight vigil remembering China's deadly crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and the arrest earlier in the day of an organiser of previous vigils.

Hong Kong police banned the vigil for a second straight year, citing novel Coronavirus social distancing restrictions, although there have been no local cases in the semi-autonomous Chinese city for more than six weeks.

Police closed off large parts of Victoria Park, the venue of past vigils, in the city's popular Causeway Bay shopping district and warned people not to participate in unauthorised assemblies, which carry a penalty of up to five years in jail.

Despite the ban and heavy police presence, hundreds of people still turned up Friday night to walk along the perimeter of the park. At 8 pm many turned on the flashlights on their smartphones while others lit candles in remembrance of those who lost their lives when China's military put down student-led pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. Hundreds, if not thousands, were killed in the crackdown.

In past years, thousands of people have gathered in Victoria Park to honour the dead. Last year, thousands attended despite the ban to light candles and sing songs. Police later charged more than 20 activists with participating in the event.

Efforts to suppress public memory of the Tiananmen events have lately turned to Hong Kong. A temporary June 4 museum closed after a visit from authorities earlier this week.

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