Four diplomatic missions in Hong Kong – the consulates general of Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US – have taken to social media to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing.
The US, Canadian, and Australian consulates general shared photos of candles on Facebook on Wednesday.
In a caption accompanying the photo, the Australian mission wrote: “On this day, we join communities around the world to remember the loss of life at Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989.”
It added: “Australia remains committed to protecting and supporting human rights – including freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of political participation.”
The Canadian consulate wrote: “We won’t forget #June4,1989: the tragic date when peaceful demonstrators were violently suppressed in and around Beijing’s #TiananmenSquare. Canada joins Hong Kong and the international community in solemn remembrance.”
The US mission also shared a statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying that “the world will never forget” the crackdown, although Beijing “actively tries to censor the facts.”
Meanwhile, the UK consulate general posted a black-and-white photo showing an empty chair; the Roman numerals “VI” and “IV,” an apparent reference to June 4, the date of the 1989 crackdown; and a Chinese phrase: “Don’t want to remember; don’t dare to forget.”
The phrase is a slogan chanted during Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen candlelight vigils before they were banned in 2020.
Vigils banned
The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing.
Hong Kong used to be the only place on Chinese soil – besides Macau – where commemoration of the crackdown could be held in public.
Tens of thousands of residents gathered annually in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay for candlelight vigils on June 4 every year to mourn the victims.
But authorities banned the Tiananmen vigil gathering at Victoria Park for the first time in 2020, citing Covid-19 restrictions, and imposed the ban again in 2021, nearly a year after a national security law imposed by Beijing came into effect.
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the vigils, disbanded in September 2021 after several of its members were arrested.
With public commemoration of the crackdown becoming rare, some foreign consulates in the city continue to remember the event openly.
For the third year, a days-long patriotic food carnival organised by pro-Beijing groups is being held in Victoria Park on the crackdown anniversary day.
A heavy police presence can be spotted patrolling the park, the former site of the candelight vigils, on Wednesday.
Detained barrister-activist Chow Hang-tung, formerly vice chairperson of the Alliance, said in a social media post on Sunday that she would launch a 36-hour hunger strike in prison to mark the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.
Chow, two former Alliance chairpersons, and the Alliance itself stand accused of inciting subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law. They face a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars if convicted.
