Hundreds of people on Friday gathered near a Hong Kong park, despite a ban on an annual candlelight vigil to remember China’s deadly crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, and the arrest earlier in the day of an organizer of previous vigils.
Hong Kong police banned the vigil for a second straight year, citing COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, although there have been no local cases in the territory for about six weeks.
Police closed off parts of Victoria Park — the venue of past vigils — in the Causeway Bay shopping district and warned people not to participate in unauthorized assemblies, which is illegal with punishment of up to five years imprisonment.
Photo: AFP
Despite the ban and a heavy police presence, hundreds of people still showed up on Friday night to walk along the park’s perimeter.
Many illuminated the flashlights on their smartphones while others lit candles in remembrance of the hundreds, if not thousands of people who lost their lives when China’s military put down student-led pro-democracy protests in Beijing at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
In past years, tens of thousands of people have gathered in Victoria Park to honor the dead. Thousands attended last year despite the ban, lighting candles and singing songs. Police later charged more than 20 activists with participating in the event.
Edward Yeung, one of those participating in Friday night’s event, flicked on a lighter instead of a candle and said authorities are “scared of the people.”
“They’re scared that people will remember all this. They want to wash it all away,” he said.
The efforts came amid sweeping moves to quell dissent in the territory — including a new National Security Law, election system changes and the arrest of many activists who participated in pro-democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019.
Earlier on Friday, police arrested Chow Hang-tung (鄒幸彤), a vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance, which organized Hong Kong’s annual candlelight vigil, the group said.
Although police did not identify Chow, they said they arrested a 36-year-old woman from the Hong Kong Alliance as she was publicizing an unauthorized assembly via social media, despite the police ban on the vigil.
After the ban was issued, Chow urged people to commemorate the event privately by lighting candles wherever they are.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source