Tiananmen commemorations in Hong Kong stifled, but other cities keep memory alive

Hong Kong police searched and detained scores of people on Sunday, including four arrested for “seditious” intent, as authorities tightened security for the 34th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Restrictions in Hong Kong have stifled what were once the largest vigils marking the anniversary of the bloody crackdown by Chinese troops on pro-democracy demonstrators, leaving cities like Taipei, London, New York and Berlin to keep the memory of June 4 alive.

Near Victoria Park, the previous site of yearly vigils, hundreds of police conducted stop and search operations, and deployed armored vehicles and police vans. And in Victoria Park itself, pro-China groups held a carnival featuring games, music and products from across China.

In Beijing, Tiananmen Square was thronged with tourists taking pictures under the watchful eye of police and other personnel but with no obvious sign of stepped-up security.

In democratically governed Taiwan, the last remaining part of the Chinese-speaking world where the anniversary can be marked freely, hundreds attended a memorial at Taipei’s Liberty Square where a “Pillar of Shame” statue was displayed.

– Reuters