On June 4th 1989, the Tiananmen Square Massacres took place, ending with the lives of thousands of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators. Every year on this date people in Hong Kong and Taiwan gather in a specific place of the city to commemorate this tragedy and its victims. But last year, the Chinese government imposed a new security law for Hong Kong, making it much easier to punish and arrest protestors reducing Hong Kong’s autonomy and aiming to stop the pro-democracy movement, and in this case, it means banning a memorial of the death of peaceful pro-democracy protests.
On April 15th, 1989, Yu Yaobang, the liberal leader of the Communist Party of China, passed away, which led people from all over China to gather at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mourn his death and to complain about the slow pace of reforms promised by the government. In the course of weeks, these gatherings turned into peaceful protests against corruption and demanding a new political and economic reform. The majority of citizens forming these protest groups were students. But over one million people in Beijing joined them in their movement which aimed to reach the Communist Party Leaders. However, in May the 20th martial law was declared in Beijing to “Firmly stop the unrest” but demonstrators continued with the protests after these declarations. Overnight from the 3rd to 4th of June, the government sent tanks and troops to Tiananmen Square to clear the streets from protestors and “restore order”. The military approached with their tanks and fired with no warning, killing over a thousand demonstrators. Ever since then, an annual memorial has been done in Hong Kong and Taiwan in memory of the young victims. But this changed on June 30th of 2020, when a new security law was declared, banning this annual event and making it much easier to arrest anyone who opposed or resisted. Authorities claim they are doing this because of the current coronavirus restrictions.
This year’s commemoration has been the first one since this new controversial law was approved. And the number of people that attended the memorial was far less than usual. Authorities closed off Victoria Park, which was where the memorials were usually held, So, the few citizens that went out were just on the streets with candles, and activists told people to light up their house lights or candles from their balconies at 8 pm local time. On Friday night, pro-democracy activist Chow Hang Tung was arrested during the reduced memorial for promoting the unauthorized assembly. Ms. Chow is a vice chairwoman of Hong Kong Alliance which organizes these annual memorials for the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacres. But the police warned of more arrests of people that were part of this memorial, and the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, said that “Citizens must respect the law”.
These events can make us question the real intentions behind this new Hong Kong approved law. Is it approved because of actual concern about the citizens' security? Or was it to stop events related to pro-democracy causes? However, in Taiwan, this event is still held every year as a commemoration of the Tiananmen Square victims and as a way of protest, once again criticizing the Communist government and demanding true political reform. Tsai Ing-wen, President of the Republic of China, wrote on her Facebook page: "I believe that all Taiwanese who are proud of their freedom and democracy will never forget about this day and will firmly stick with their faith, unshaken by storms."
Martina Trelles
Sources:
1- Amnesty International UK. “1989 Tiananmen Square Protests.” Amnesty International UK, 31 May 2019, www.amnesty.org.uk/china-1989-tiananmen-square-protests-demonstration-massacre.
2- Davidson, Helen, and Vincent Ni. “Hong Kong Vigil Leader Arrested as 7,000 Police Enforce Ban on Tiananmen Anniversary Protests.” The Guardian, 7 June 2021, www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/04/hong-kong-7000-police-ready-to-enforce-ban-on-tiananmen-anniversary-protests.
3 - Wang, Vivian. “Hong Kong, Newly Constrained, Tries to Remember Tiananmen Massacre.” The New York Times, 5 June 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/world/asia/china-tiananmen-massacre.html.
4- “Hong Kong Tiananmen Square Commemorations: In Pictures.” BBC News, 4 June 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57356140.
5- “Tiananmen: Hong Kong Vigil Organiser Arrested on 32nd Anniversary.” BBC News, 4 June 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57353803.