The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989 ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing.
LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
In Pictures: Hong Kong officials, courts, public observe 3 minutes of silence for late Chinese leader Jiang Zemin
Hong Kong lawmakers, courts and hospital staff observed three minutes of silence in memory of late Chinese leader Jiang Zemin on Tuesday morning, as Jiang’s memorial service took place in Beijing. The commemoration was also live-streamed at some schools and at 21 community centres across the city. The remembrance began at 10 a.m. on Tuesday…
Ex-Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil leader denied bail as court cites ‘strong’ evidence in national security case
A Hong Kong court has refused to grant bail to veteran pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-yan pending his trial under the Beijing-imposed national security law. It came after a judge ruled there was insufficient grounds for believing that the former leader of the defunct Tiananmen crackdown vigil group would not continue to commit acts endangering national…
the tiananmen massacre: 32 years on
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS ON 1989
Why Taiwan’s welcome mat for Hongkongers is wearing thin
By Hilton Yip In the past three years since mass protests swept Hong Kong in 2019, Taiwan has been seen as a haven for those looking to flee the authorities or start afresh in a democratic society. With a government that had voiced support for the protests, a sympathetic civil society, and ethnic and cultural…
Why banning Hong Kong’s Tiananmen crackdown commemorations highlights the authorities’ insecurities
Another anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown has come and gone. This year – like last year – the authorities mobilised thousands of police officers to ensure that no organised event took place. Officials closed Victoria Park and ramped up stop and searches, threatening anyone who looked “suspicious” with possible national security law violations, such as…
The Tiananmen Massacre statue and the purging of Hong Kong
A nightmarish eight-metre-high tangerine-coloured cenotaph composed of intertwined naked bodies with hands outreached and mouths agape, the Pillar of Shame was never a subtle symbol. Today, however, it is truly performing its identity, heaping shame upon shame as the university that has housed it for a quarter of a century demands its removal. Yet the…
The University of Hong Kong must cherish its autonomy and protect the Tiananmen Massacre statue
This week, I walked past the memorial at the University of Hong Kong to those who lost their lives in the June 4, 1989, incident in Beijing, Jens Galschiøt’s Pillar of Shame. University authorities have ordered its removal by next Wednesday, despite it being in an area that was once reserved for HKU Student Union…
PHOTOGRAPHY
HKFP Lens: Darkness in the park – Three decades of Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Massacre vigil
Police sealed off Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Saturday, blocking access to the only venue in China where the commemoration of the crackdown on June 4, 1989 in Beijing has traditionally been allowed over the past 30 years. Police made six arrests – for unauthorised assembly, obstructing police and for possession of an offensive weapon.…
HKFP Lens: Hong Kong press group announces winners of annual news photo contest
The Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (HKPPA) announced the winners of its annual Focus at the Frontline news photo contest on Sunday. Photo of the Year HK01 photojournalist Liu Ngan Hung won the Photo of the Year award for his picture of workers removing the Pillar of Shame – a statue that honoured those who…
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…
FEATURES
The Hong Kong returnees who want to leave again
It is rare for an education-obsessed Asian mother to let her child drop out of classes in the middle of a school year. But in April, Pauline Choy took her 14-year-old daughter out of secondary school and let her stay home. The teenager is enjoying an extra-long summer holiday before leaving Hong Kong to study…
In Pictures: High security, arrests and mini acts of defiance as Hong Kong seeks to thwart Tiananmen crackdown commemorations
Police carried out a large security operation during the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown that resulted in multiple arrests on Saturday, as individual Hongkongers attempted to stage mini acts of defiance around Victoria Park. On Friday, police cordoned off parts of the park in Causeway Bay, which for some 30 years was the site…
How Hongkongers were silenced after three decades of commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown
Mourners in several cities are scheduled on Saturday to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, when China’s military killed hundreds and perhaps thousands of protesters in Beijing. But for the first time, commemorations in Hong Kong are set to be largely muted. Over the past two years, authorities armed with the Beijing-imposed national…
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