Police say four arrested for ‘seditious’ acts while a further four taken away on suspicion of breaching the peace
Hong Kong police detained eight people, including activists and artists, on the eve of the 34th anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown, a move that signals the city’s shrinking freedom of expression.
For decades, Hong Kong was the only Chinese city with large-scale public Tiananmen commemoration, but the annual vigil has been banned since the imposition of a national security law in 2020. Another well-known performance artist, Chan Mei-tung, was also taken away, with police refusing to provide the reason for her detention. Chan was wandering around before she was stopped and searched by police, AFP reporters witnessed.
AFP reporters also witnessed police detaining a young couple dressed in white and holding white chrysanthemums – a flower and colour typically used to signify loss and mourning.Chinese troops and tanks broke up peaceful protests in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989, brutally crushing a weeks-long wave of demonstrations calling for political change. For decades before its ban in 2020, the annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park drew tens of thousands of people.
Former Alliance member Chiu Yan-loy told AFP the police had repeatedly asked him about his 4 June plans. “They told me multiple times not to leave home on that day,” he said. One performance artist, who was tailed closely by authorities on Saturday, took a quieter approach, carrying a foldable chair to sit on and take a selfie, moving from street to street in the area around the park.
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