Hong Kong: Activists Detained at Tiananmen Square Commemorations

Improve the News Foundation -

Facts

  • Hong Kong police detained at least two dozen people taking part in a vigil on the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown over the weekend, including prominent pro-democracy activists.1
  • Among those arrested were the 67-year-old campaigner Alexandra Wong, nicknamed "Grandma Wong," the former head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Mak Yin Ting, and the leader of the opposition League of Social Democrats party, Chan Po Ying.2
  • This comes as around 6K officers were expected to be deployed to patrol the city, including the traditional venue of the annual candle vigil, Victoria Park, where pro-Beijing groups organized a carnival to mark Hong Kong's 1997 handover to China.3
  • The UN Human Rights Office expressed its concerns about the detentions in Hong Kong, calling for the "release of anyone arrested for exercising freedom of expression and peaceful assemble."4
  • Anniversary memorials of the deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, long banned in mainland China, have been severely restricted in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed a new national security law in 2020.4
  • Officials have been reluctant to comment on the legal status of Tiananmen commemorations, with the police saying those detained were done so under suspicion of seditious intent and for "breaching public peace."5

Sources: 1Guardian, 2BBC News, 3PBS NewsHour, 4Al Jazeera, and 5CBC.

Narratives

  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by New York Times. Beijing has continuously scaled back the civil liberties of Hong Kongers and is trying to erase the memory of a brutal massacre of pro-democracy protesters. Since the 2020 security bill, the region has been autonomous in name-only, as the mainland snuffs out any and all opposition to the repressive CCP rule. The people will never forget the atrocities committed at Tiananmen Square.
  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. China governs with the consent of its citizens, and no amount of Western interference will change that. Through incitement from outside actors, some troublemakers were arrested for violating the law under the guise of protesting an event that happened decades ago. Hong Kong did what was right in order to preserve social order against aggressive interlopers.

Predictions