Several events have been planned in Hong Kong to mark the 27th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen massacre on Saturday.
An annual candlelit vigil will be hosted by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, an organisation formed in May 1989 to support the democratic movement in Beijing that year.
The vigil demands that dissidents be released; that the democratic movement of 1989 be vindicated; that those who ordered the June 4 massacre be held accountable; that one-party dictatorship be ended; and that democracy be realised in China.
- Time: 8pm
- Venue: Victoria Park, Causeway Bay
- Live stream is available
The organisers expect around 100,000 to attend.
Hong Kong Federation of Students, a co-founder of the Alliance, recently withdrew from the organisation, as the new administration did not agree with the Alliance over the goal of building democracy in China. It will not attend the vigil. However, Tertiary Students Political Reform Concern Group will be on the vigil’s stage.
The pro-democracy League of Social Democrats and the Tertiary Students Political Reform Concern Group will march to the China Liaison Office in Sai Wan after the vigil.
Split
With the Federation’s withdrawal, some university student unions have decided to organise their own events for the anniversary.
A joint-university forum entitled “Revisiting the meaning of June 4, outlining Hong Kong’s future” will be held on the day by 11 student unions of tertiary institutions.
Nine speakers have been invited, many considered localists.
Localist groups are pro-democracy but many consider traditional democratic activists and pan-democrats within the legislature to be ineffective. The camp is also tied with various movements related to the expansion of Hong Kong’s autonomy, for example advocating for city-state status or outright independence.
- Time: 7:30pm – 10pm
- Venue: Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, Main Campus, Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Free tickets available from 5pm on Saturday at the exit C and D of the MTR University Station, the university’s main gate and at the venue.
- Live stream is available
- Limited English simultaneous interpretation is available
The student unions of University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Lingnan University and the Hong Kong Institute of Education did not join due to financial reasons.
Generations
The HKU student union will host a separate forum entitled “Five generations of Hongkongers: Our Quest for our Future”.
It invited political activists and commentators from different generations, saying that “the commemoration should never only be an occasion to vent our sentiment collectively… we pass on the spirit of student movement through such dialogue among Hongkongers of various generations on this very day.”
- Time: 7pm – 9pm
- Venue: Sun Yat-Sen Place, The University of Hong Kong
It will not have a candlelit session, but will have one minute of silence to commemorate the dead.
The other student unions will host a forum on Friday night in an area outside the student union of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, on young people’s views on the Tiananmen massacre.
Resistance
Localist political group Civic Passion will host five rallies on Saturday night. It urges Hong Kong people to continue condemning the massacre, and resisting the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.
- Time: 8pm – 10pm
- Venues:
- Hong Kong Island: Quarry Bay Park, intersection between Lei King Road and Tai Hong Street, Sai Wan Ho
- Kowloon East: Hong Ning Road Recreation Ground, Kwun Tong
- Kowloon West: Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui
- New Territories East: Chik Fu Street Rest Garden, Tai Wai
- New Territories West: intersection between Tsing To Path and Tsing Ling Path, Tuen Mun
