The Tiananmen massacre occurred on June 4, 1989 ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people died when the People’s Liberation Army was deployed to crack down on protesters in Beijing.
LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Jailed Hong Kong democrats sign letter urging Tiananmen vigil group to disband
Two jailed pro-democracy figures linked to the embattled group behind the annual Tiananmen Massacre vigils have urged its members to vote to disband at a special meeting this Saturday. Identical, typed letters separately signed by veteran activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho Chun-yan were disclosed on Monday by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of […]
Explainer: How the narrative shifted among Hong Kong leaders on the Tiananmen massacre
The group which for decades helped Hongkongers remember the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre is on the verge of disbanding as its leaders face trial on national security charges. But as recently as two years ago, the city’s leader was citing the candlelight vigil – which it organised – as a symbol of Hong Kong’s enduring freedoms. […]
the tiananmen massacre: 32 years on
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS ON 1989
‘Foreign agent’ claims against Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Massacre vigil organisers defy understanding
A pro-democracy alliance has vowed to defy what it calls a groundless order from Hong Kong’s national security police to hand over financial and operational information. It has a point. Seen from a historical perspective, it could not be more ironic that the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China is […]
Hong Kong’s civil society under fire: the candidates, the election, then the democracy movement itself
Hong Kong’s new national security regime is efficient, if nothing else. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief last year when they saw the new National Security Law’s Article 39. This says the law is not retroactive, meaning political sins committed before June 30, 2020, when the law was promulgated, would not be treated as illegal […]
Why an empty Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4 could be an even more potent symbol of patriotism
Authoritarian governments have always had a problem with remembering the dead. They are determined to keep control over history’s narrative and the deceased have a habit of disrupting their version of events. Thus the annual June 4 commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre is a problem for the Chinese Communist Party. This year, as last, […]
1989 Tiananmen Massacre: Keeping the flame alive in Hong Kong
By Hana Meihan Davis June 4th marks the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre — a deadly government crackdown on the otherwise peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in the Chinese capital and across the nation. But this year, for the second time in Hong Kong’s history, the annual candlelight vigil is banned. Amid ongoing political repression, […]
PHOTOGRAPHY
HKFP Lens: Darkness in the park – Three decades of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Massacre vigil
Hundreds of police sealed off Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Friday, blocking access to the only venue in the whole of China where the commemoration of the events on June 4, 1989 in Beijing have been allowed over the past 30 years. The ban on the vigil – ostensibly due to Covid-19 concerns – left […]
HKFP Lens: Hongkongers mark Tiananmen Massacre 32nd anniversary amid police ban – Part 2
Hongkongers wandered around Causeway Bay holding candles and waving their phone flashlights to commemorate victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on Friday evening. Police raised warning flags and stopped and searched black-clad people, some holding electronic candles. Victoria Park was empty on June 4 for the first time in 32 years after the force […]
HKFP Lens: Hundreds of Hongkongers mark Tiananmen Massacre 32nd anniversary amid police ban – Part 1
Wearing black, clutching flowers and candles, and waving mobile phone flashlights, Hongkongers found ways to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre on its 32nd anniversary on Friday despite police warnings and heavy law enforcement deployment across the city.
HKFP Lens: Thousands remember Tiananmen victims and chant pro-democracy slogans across Hong Kong
Thousands in Hong Kong gathered across various districts to remember the Tiananmen Massacre victims on Thursday – the 31st anniversary of the bloody crackdown. Despite the coronavirus-related police ban of the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park, the football pitches were filled as crowds observed a moment’s silence and sang commemorative songs. HKFP’s May James […]
HKFP Lens: Hong Kong students clean Tiananmen Massacre Pillar of Shame
The eight-metre tall Pillar of Shame statue which sits on the University of Hong Kong campus connects a Danish artist, China and Hong Kong with the commemoration of 1989 Tiananmen Massacre victims. Each year, on June 4, students wash the statue – HKFP’s May James photographed the tradition. “The old cannot kill the young forever,” […]
FEATURES
Hong Kong Student Politicism activist seeks ‘to bring hope’ despite multiple arrests
Hong Kong activist Wong Yat-chin – arrested three times in just over a month over pro-democracy street booths – says his group Student Politicism wants to “bring hope to people” as the space for activism shrinks due to the national security law. Most recently, the 20-year-old was picked up by police in Mong Kok on […]
Video: ‘I want to take as many steps as possible’: Hongkongers defy ban on Tiananmen Massacre vigil
Wearing black, clutching flowers and candles, and waving mobile phone flashlights, Hongkongers found ways to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre on Friday despite police warnings and heavy law enforcement deployment across the city. With the Victoria Park vigil banned, hundreds gathered in the surrounding streets to mark 32 years since the crackdown. Police made at least […]
Compromise will lead to an ‘infinite expansion of the red line,’ says head of group behind Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Massacre vigil
Hong Kong barrister Chow Hang-tung told HKFP she would find some way to commemorate the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, a week before her reported detention by police on Friday. It comes as authorities again ban the commemorative candlelight vigil organised by the group she heads amid what she calls a climate of fear. […]
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