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Hong Kong police
Hong KongPolitics

Hong Kong police arrest woman, detain 23 others as security tightened at park that once hosted June 4 anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown

  • Among those taken away were Chan Po-ying, leader of League of Social Democrats, and Leo Tang Kin-wah, ex-vice-chairman of disbanded Confederation of Trade Unions
  • Several consulates in city mark occasion, with US and EU diplomatic missions displaying candles in office windows

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Chan Po-ying, chairwoman of the League of Social Democrats, is taken away by police in Causeway Bay on Sunday. Photo: Elson Li
Edith Lin
A woman has been arrested and another 23 people have been taken away by Hong Kong police patrolling the area that previously hosted the June 4 candlelight vigil marking the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing more than three decades ago.
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Security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung had earlier warned authorities would take “resolute action” against anyone threatening national security as the date approached, and hundreds of officers fanned out across Victoria Park and nearby streets in Causeway Bay on Sunday, checking bags of passers-by and cautioning residents who stopped to linger.

On the international front, the diplomatic missions of the United States and European Union displayed electric candles in the windows of their offices in Central, while the consulates of Australia, Britain and Canada released messages commemorating the anniversary.

03:43

Carnival replaces vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Tiananmen crackdown anniversary

Carnival replaces vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Tiananmen crackdown anniversary

The vigil in Victoria Park, which regularly attracted tens of thousands of residents in past years, has not been held since 2019. Authorities denied permission to stage the event the following two years, citing risks to public health amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The organiser disbanded in August 2021, pointing to the changed political environment in the wake of the national security law, and this year pro-Beijing groups are holding a carnival in the park celebrating the country’s diversity.

Police said before midnight that a 53-year-old woman was arrested for obstructing officers after she refused to show her identity card at Victoria Park. Officers also detained 11 men and 12 women, aged 20 to 74, for suspected breaches of the peace, the force said.

The US consulate in Central displays electric candles in its windows on Sunday. Photo: Dickson Lee
The US consulate in Central displays electric candles in its windows on Sunday. Photo: Dickson Lee

Among them was Chan Po-ying, the leader of the League of Social Democrats opposition political party and who was carrying an LED candle and yellow paper flowers.

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