At least eight people were apprehended by the police as they sought to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Causeway Bay on Saturday. Police confirmed four arrests for alleged sedition and public disorder.
Those taken away included two activists and two performance artists, according to The Collective Hong Kong and Ming Pao, as police deployed en masse ahead of Sunday’s anniversary.
Lau Ka-yee, member of activist group Tiananmen Mothers, was seen wearing a t-shirt that was printed with a candle and the Chinese word for “truth,” as she arrived at the fountain in Victoria Park.
Since 2020, the authorities have denied permission for the traditional Victoria Park candlelit commemorative gathering citing Covid-19, whilst the organising group – the Alliance – disbanded in 2021 in light of the 2020 national security law. Top officials will not say if mourning the Tiananmen dead is illegal, though Chief Executive John Lee has warned that lawbreakers will face consequences.
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.
Upon arriving on Saturday, Lau reportedly announced that she would launch a day-long hunger strike to mourn the Tiananmen victims, along with a former volunteer of the now-defunct Alliance, Kwan Chun-pong.
Lau was seen with red tape symbolically placed across her mouth. She also held six white roses and four red roses, before she was taken away.
Police on-site reportedly warned the duo that they were suspected of committing sedition.
According to a police Facebook statement, four people were arrested in all for disorderly conduct in a public place, or for committing acts with a seditious intention. Those arrested in Causeway Bay allegedly displayed protest materials with seditious slogans and yelled in public, police added.
Four others suspected of “breaching public peace” in the area were taken to police stations for further questioning, they said. HKFP has reached out to the police for comment.
Political artists appended
Two artists who, for years, were known for their performance art on East Point Road during the Tiananmen anniversary – were among those apprehended on Saturday.
Sammu Chan, one of the artists, repeatedly shouted “don’t forget June 4,” and “Hongkongers don’t be afraid,” as he was escorted to a police car, according to local media.
A couple with white flowers, a dentist with materials printed with a slogan related to the crackdown, as well as a woman with paper-made white flowers were also among the people apprehended by the police. White flowers are used as tributes at funerals in Chinese culture.
Sedition is not covered by the Beijing-imposed national security law, which targets secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts and mandates up to life imprisonment. Those convicted under the sedition law – last amended in the 1970s when Hong Kong was still a British colony – face a maximum penalty of two years in prison.
Since 2020, the authorities have denied permission for the candlelit gathering citing Covid-19, whilst the organising group – the Alliance – disbanded in 2021 in light of the national security law. Top officials will not say if mourning the Tiananmen dead is illegal.
A carnival hosted by 26 pro-Beijing organisations took place in part of Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park this year.
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