Hong Kong deployed heavy security near a major park on Saturday as it warned people not to gather to commemorate China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square 33 years ago, as Taiwan decried efforts to erase the memories.
Saturday marks the anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire to end the student-led unrest in and around the square in central Beijing. China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into the thousands.
Soccer pitches and basketball courts, which would usually be full on a Saturday, lay empty as hundreds of police, some with sniffer dogs, patrolled the area. China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 punishing acts of subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
Hong Kong has banned the annual vigil since 2020, citing coronavirus restrictions. Some democracy campaigners accuse authorities of using those rules to suppress activism, a claim that officials reject. "But we believe that such brute force cannot erase people's memories," she posted on her Facebook and Instagram pages. "When democracy is threatened and authoritarianism in the world is expanding, we need to uphold democratic values."
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