Door is still open for lawful Hong Kong remembrance of June 4 crackdown
- The days of staging a mass vigil in the city are in the past but this is nevertheless a time for remembrance, reflection and hopes of moving forward
Tuesday’s anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown continues to hold deep meaning for many Hong Kong people 35 years on. A candlelight vigil, attended by tens of thousands, marked the occasion for three decades.
The event allowed participants to mourn the young lives lost when student-led protests were crushed in Beijing. It was also one of the best-known symbols of Hong Kong’s enduring freedoms.
But times have changed. Civil unrest in 2019 was followed by Beijing’s passing of a national security law in 2020.
Domestic national security laws were enacted this year. There is no escaping the fact that the political and legal reality is different now.
There has been no vigil for five years. It was banned in 2020 and 2021 on public health grounds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Organiser, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which advocated an end to one-party rule, disbanded in 2021. Leading members are awaiting trial for subversion.
But not all who wish to commemorate the June 4 crackdown agree with the alliance’s stance. Many Hongkongers simply want to remember those who died.
There is an important distinction to be made. Doubts about the legality of commemorating the crackdown have been raised since the passing of the national security law.
Doing so in public now carries the risk that actions might be viewed as inciting hatred against the government. As legal experts said, people must decide for themselves whether their actions are seditious.
Most will, understandably, err on the side of caution.
The days of the mass vigil have gone and are unlikely to return in the foreseeable future. But it is important that Hong Kong people are still able to lawfully commemorate this special day.
Two prominent members of the Executive Council have suggested private memorials, with no intention to incite, are legal. That, at least, should be permitted.
The crackdown, which came as Hong Kong was preparing for its return to Chinese rule in 1997, continues to resonate strongly in the city. Hong Kong’s top Catholic priest, Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, said it had left “a deep wound in parts of our psyche”.
He called for forgiveness for those who inflicted the wounds in the hope of reconciliation. More broadly, forgiveness, healing and reconciliation on all sides are qualities Hong Kong needs.
For many, the sentiment surrounding June 4 remains. People should be allowed to commemorate and mourn, if they wish, but must do so within the law.
Hong Kong, after all, is a city ruled by law. It is a time for remembrance, reflection and hopes of moving forward.
Candles will still be lit tonight, but most likely in the privacy of people’s homes.
