For first time in history of annual commemoration, student leaders to hold simultaneous events focusing on localist issues, not democracy in China
STUART.LAU@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Saturday, 04 June, 2016, 2:03pm
A child holds a candle aloft in Victoria Park at the 2014 vigil commemorating the Tiananmen crackdown. Photo: Nora Tam
Tonight Hong Kong hosts the only large-scale commemoration on Chinese soil for the pro-democracy students who fell victim to the military crackdown in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square exactly 27 years ago.
All eyes will be on whether turnout at the candlelight vigil at Victoria Park will diminish as a result of the latest decision by all university student leaders to pull out of the major annual event not just locally but internationally since the June 4 tragedy in 1989.
Why Hong Kong’s student leaders are abandoning June 4 vigil
Criticising the slogan of building a democratic China as futile and irrelevant, student leaders planned to organise their own activities and instead highlight localist concerns.
Lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, secretary of the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organises the vigil, expected a turnout of 100,000 people, adding: “I am confident that Hongkongers will remain determined.”
At around the same time as participants start to gather for the vigil, student groups plan to hold at least three forums examining the city’s future, gathering at Chinese University, the University of Hong Kong and in Causeway Bay.
Firefighters remove ‘Never forget June 4’ banner unfurled on Kowloon slope
Ernie Chow Shue-fung, leader of the Chinese University student union, said it was important to reflect on how the June 4 incident had affected the city’s pro-democracy movement in order to find a way forward.
A replica of the ‘Goddess of Democracy’ statue that was raised in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989. Photo: Nora Tam
The Beijing authorities have taken no steps to vindicate the several hundred – or, according to some estimates, over 1,000 – protesters killed by the People’s Liberation Army as they called for greater democracy and anti-corruption measures.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, in her first remarks on the June 4 incident since coming to power, said the subject “should not become a permanent taboo” between Taiwan and the mainland.
“Only the party in power on the other side of the [Taiwan] Strait has the ability to resolve the past pain inflicted on the Chinese people,” Tsai wrote in Facebook. “I hope there comes a day when [Taiwan and the mainland] will gradually become consistent when it comes to democracy and human rights.”
Tiananmen mother faces lonely vigil on June 4 anniversary
On Friday, the US Department of State issued a statement demanding a full public account of what happened in Beijing on June 4, 1989.
“It has been 27 years since the Chinese government violently suppressed peaceful protests in and around Tiananmen Square,” deputy department spokesman Mark Toner said.
“The United States government continues to call for a full public accounting of those killed, detained, or missing and for an end to censorship of discussions about the events of June 4, 1989, as well as an end to harassment and detention of those who wish to peacefully commemorate the anniversary. “
Voices from Tiananmen: Eyewitnesses look back to the spring of 1989
Toner also said that while China has seen many changes in the intervening years, the US continues to have “serious concerns” with “ongoing violations” of human rights in China.
Stay tuned to scmp.com for further updates on the evening’s events as and when they happen.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1964153/all-eyes-victoria-park-june-4-vigil-feels-generational
