Tiananmen Vigil in Hong Kong: SCMP

Thousands gathered in a Hong Kong park and other locations to mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, reports South China Morning Post. Authorities had banned mass gatherings to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but police did not stop the vigil. “The show of defiance came on a politically charged day as the legislature passed a law criminalising disrespect for the national anthem, amid a raging controversy over China’s top legislative body tailor-making a national security law for the city,” reports the South China Morning Post. “Hong Kong has been the only place on Chinese soil to hold a large-scale public gathering every year to mark the Tiananmen crackdown.” The protests were political, with participants expressing opposition to a new national security law and one-party rule, yet mostly peaceful, with four arrests after a street was blocked. Many demonstrators compared the 1989 efforts to recent protests in Hong Kong about China’s increasing control. Opponents of the national security law worry about a loss of Hong Kong’s freedoms and one country, two systems status. Police may yet arrest organizers. – YaleGlobal