Hong Kong watchdog organizer arrested by Tiananmen

Hong Kong police arrested an organizer of an annual nightly vigil in memory of the deadly crackdown on Tiananmen Square and warned the public not to attend the banned event on Friday, as authorities silenced the latest pro-democracy voices in China.

In recent years, tens of thousands of people have gathered in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to remember the people who died when the Chinese military put down student-led pro-democracy protests on June 4, 1989, killing hundreds of them. if not thousands.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has never allowed public events to commemorate the military attack on protesters and citizens, and security around Beijing Square was heightened on Friday morning, with officers checking pedestrians and buses for identification. with Chinese tourists like any other day.

Authorities have slowed down all discussion of the incidents on the mainland, where the few remaining activists and victims’ advocates are under increasing police surveillance and are taken on involuntary “vacations” as the anniversary approaches. Responding to a question about the crackdown, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin reiterated Thursday that China’s position is that its response to the 1989 “political turmoil” had been correct.

Efforts to suppress public memory of the Tiananmen incidents have recently focused on Hong Kong, where the June 4 Museum was closed this week and police again warned residents on Friday not to attend the vigil.

The act has been banned for the second year in a row due to restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, although the city has had no cases of premises for more than six weeks. But this coincides with more racial initiatives to curb dissent in the city, including a new security law, electoral changes and the arrest of many activists who participated in the pro-democracy demonstrations that paralyzed the semi-autonomous territory in 2019.

Commissioner Law Kwok-hoi told reporters that officers detained a 36-year-old Hong Kong Alliance woman and a 20-year-old food delivery man for announcing and publicizing an unauthorized gathering on their social media accounts even after their prohibition.

Chow Hang Tung, vice president of the group, was arrested on Friday morning, explained the Alliance, which organizes the vigil and manages the museum closed this week.