As Saturday night fell in Hong Kong, democracy activist Chiu Yan-loy turned off the lights, lit a number of candles and observed a moment of silence to commemorate those killed in China's Tiananmen crackdown 33 years ago.

For the first time since 2000, when he started attending an annual vigil to mark the anniversary alongside tens of thousands of fellow Hong Kongers in the city's Victoria Park, Chiu was performing this ritual alone.

Hong Kong used to be the notable exception to an effective blanket ban in China on discussing the events of June 4, 1989, when the government set tanks and troops on peaceful protestors.

But in 2020, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law to snuff out dissent after widespread and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. Since then, large-scale public remembrance in the city has been wiped out.

This is the third consecutive year that the vigil at Victoria Park has been banned, with the park closed late on Friday.

Police warned the public that gathering to commemorate Tiananmen anywhere risked breaking the law.

But "the emotional connection with June 4 that Hong Kong people have is far beyond attending any collective ritual", Chiu told AFP, his face illuminated by the flickering flames.

"It has become part of our life and it's now about how to practise what we believe in our everyday life."

- 'Truth will come to light' -

The 36-year-old was a former standing committee member of the Hong Kong Alliance, a now-disbanded group that was one of the organisers of the Victoria Park vigil that had taken place for more than three decades.

The Alliance and its leaders were charged with "incitement to subversion" under the security law last year.

Chiu said people should not be disheartened by the situation in Hong Kong, saying it was not yet as bad as in eastern European countries under the Soviet Union's control, or Taiwan during its martial law era.

"We should not belittle ourselves," he said. "As long as we are willing to remember and pass it on, the truth will eventually come to light someday."

Chiu believes many Hong Kongers, like him, will find their own ways to commemorate June 4 despite warnings and threats from the authorities.

For him, the vigil itself was not the most important thing.

"The main body is after all the people who participated in it -- as long as our hearts and minds remain unchanged, we won't easily give up," he said.

Former district councillor Derek Chu, who had been handing out electronic candles from his office since Friday, also believes that remembrance does not have to be confined to a specific place.

"In the contest between a people and the government, it boils down to belief and memory, and the location is less important," Chu said.

Only 39 candles were handed out on Friday, he said, but he was not disappointed.

"Even at a low point of the (pro-democracy) movement, I don't think people will forget June 4," he said.

- 'Passing memory on' -

Decades of commemoration are being erased as Hong Kong is remoulded in the mainland's image.

Chu's alma mater, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), removed a "Goddess of Democracy" statue from campus in December last year, saying the move was based on an assessment of legal risk.

Earlier this week, four CUHK students placed 3D-printed miniatures of the "Goddess" in different locations on campus, creating a treasure hunt for students and alumni.

"It feels like (the statue) was stolen," Rebecca, one of the students behind the project, told AFP, using a pseudonym to protect her identity.

"But the memories and meanings of the sculpture will not simply disappear after it was removed -- instead they rely on actions of passing them on."

The team had to axe the event halfway through its planned six-day run, as they noticed an increase in building staff at locations they had announced online.

Of the 32 miniatures they prepared, 23 were found by students, seven were lost, one was damaged with its head broken off, and one's whereabouts are unknown.

Rebecca said she had first learned about Tiananmen in secondary school, when her teacher insisted that students learn about it even though it was not an exam requirement.

"I was told that when I became an adult and could be responsible for myself, I should attend the candlelight vigil, but I haven't had a chance," she said.

"I still hope someday I can be part of it."

Hong Kong detains several people as world marks Tiananmen anniversary
Hong Kong (AFP) June 4, 2022 - Hong Kong authorities on Saturday detained several people as they pounced on any attempt at public commemoration of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, while around the world tributes were paid to the victims of the bloody event.

As night fell, candles appeared in the windows of several foreign countries' missions to Hong Kong -- in defiance of a warning not to do so -- and on various street corners around the city.

Discussion of the events of 1989, when China set troops and tanks on peaceful protestors, is all but forbidden on the mainland.

Semi-autonomous Hong Kong had been the one place in China where large-scale remembrance was still tolerated -- until two years ago when Beijing imposed a national security law to snuff out dissent after widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Authorities had warned the public that "participating in an unauthorised assembly" Saturday risked a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

They also closed large parts of Victoria Park, once the site of packed annual candlelight vigils that were attended by tens of thousands on the anniversary.

The park and nearby Causeway Bay shopping district -- one of the city's busiest neighbourhoods -- were heavily policed all day Saturday.

People were stopped and searched for carrying flowers, wearing black and, in one case, carrying a toy tank box.

- Multiple people detained -

Five men and one woman, aged 19-80, were arrested in the course of the day, Hong Kong police said.

Three of them were detained for obstructing officers in the execution of their duties, one for inciting others to join an unauthorised assembly, and the remaining person was apprehended for possession of offensive weapons, according to the police.

Activist Yu Wai-pan from the League of Social Democrats (LSD) party was also briefly detained but later released without charge, according to his party.

"For 33 years it has always been peaceful, but today it's like (police) are facing a big enemy," Chan Po-ying, head of the LSD, said.

Security was heightened in the Chinese capital Beijing on Saturday, with officer numbers bulked up, and ID checks and facial recognition devices set up on roads leading to Tiananmen Square.

China has gone to exhaustive lengths to erase the crackdown from collective memory, omitting it from history textbooks and scrubbing references to it from the Chinese internet and social media platforms.

A similar approach is now beginning to be applied to Hong Kong, as authorities remould the city in the mainland's image.

Since last September, the Victoria Park vigil's organisers have been arrested and charged with subversion, their June 4 museum has been closed, statues have been removed and memorial church services cancelled.

Commemoration events in Macau were also cancelled this year.

- International solidarity -

On Saturday, multiple Western consulates general in Hong Kong posted Tiananmen tributes on social media, despite local media reports that they had been warned by the city's Chinese foreign ministry office to refrain from doing so.

The European Union's office confirmed to AFP that they had received a call.

At dusk, both the US Consulate General and the EU office's windows were illuminated by the flickering light of candles.

"The European Union always stands in solidarity with human rights defenders across the globe," the latter wrote on Twitter, posting a picture of dozens of candles on a windowsill.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement pledging to continue to "honour and remember those who stood up for human rights and fundamental freedoms".

"While many are no longer able to speak up themselves, we and many around the world continue to stand up on their behalf," he said, specifically mentioning the situation in Hong Kong.

A spokesperson for the city's Chinese foreign ministry office said it "firmly rejected and strongly condemned" Blinken and other US officials' statements.

"Their political show interfered in China's internal affairs under the guise of human rights and freedom, and smeared Hong Kong's human rights and rule of law, in an attempt to incite hostility and confrontation and tarnish China's image," read a statement.

- Overseas vigils -

Vigils are being held globally on Saturday, with rights group Amnesty International coordinating candlelit events in 20 cities "to demand justice and show solidarity for Hong Kong".

"We want this spirit to carry on forever," said Frank Ruan, a former Tiananmen Square protestor who said he was lucky to have survived, in Melbourne.

In Tokyo, 52-year-old Daikichi Wakiyama said it was important to advocate for democracy.

"I have to admit things are getting not better (in Hong Kong)... But all I can say is we shouldn't give up hope," he told AFP.

Connie Lui, a 65-year-old hospital worker who left Hong Kong a year and a half ago because of the political situation, told AFP at a commemoration event in Taipei that she had been "glued to the TV in 1989".

"We came because this is the only place now where we can come to remember," she said.

"I am here also on behalf of all my friends in Hong Kong who are unable to attend."

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