Cardinal Joseph Zen is joining many in Hong Kong who plan to commemorate the bloody 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square by lighting candles across the city on June 4, circumventing a ban on the usual public gathering amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The anniversary strikes an especially sensitive nerve in the semi-autonomous city this year after Beijing’s move last month to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong, which critics fear will crush freedoms in the financial hub.
In Hong Kong, an annual candlelight vigil that has been held in the city’s Victoria Park for three decades usually draws tens of thousands of people. But police have said this week a mass gathering would pose a threat to public health just as the city reported its first locally transmitted coronavirus cases in weeks.
“Though we are forbidden by HK government to organize the memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Victoria Park, that we were doing for 31 years, we will continue to use different ways, to light a candle that people in China may finally enjoy true freedom and democracy,” Cardinal Zen said in one of a series of tweets on June 4.
“Thursday after Pentecost tomorrow is the Festum of Jesus Christ Eternal High Priest, King of Justice (Melech Zedek) and King of Peace (Melech Shalom), Jesus our Eternal High Priest will intercede for us that the long-suffering populus Sinensis may finally enjoy justice and peace,” the cardinal tweeted.
Vigil organizers have called on residents to light candles across the city iat 8:00 pm local time and hold a minute of silence shortly after. Anyone fearing arrest for public action was encouraged to mark the day on social media using the hashtag #6431truth, referencing the 31th anniversary along with the date.
One student said his parents would not allow him to attend any public gatherings, but he intended to join the online vigil.
“I think we have to restore the truth,” the 15-year-old, who only gave his surname as Ho due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
In Hong Kong, officials have repeatedly said a ban on gatherings of more than eight people is a public health measure with no political motivation. Hong Kong Police urged people in a Facebook post on June 4not to participate in prohibited gatherings to “fight” the coronavirus.
Still, some people said they intended to go to Victoria Park anyway, as volunteers handed out white candles to people making the morning commute.
“When authorities want to suppress us, there are more reasons to speak up,” said Malissa Chan, 26.
With social distancing measures allowing for religious gatherings under certain conditions, others planned to attend churches and temples. Residents were also expected to lay flowers along a waterfront promenade, while some artists planned to stage short street theatre plays.
Censored
The Tiananmen crackdown is not officially commemorated in mainland China, where the topic is taboo and any discussion heavily censored.
The ruling communist regime in China has never provided a full accounting of the 1989 violence. The death toll given by officials days later was about 300, most of them soldiers, but rights groups and witnesses say the death toll could have run into the thousands.
Among the other tweets that Cardinal Zen sent out on June 4 were those showing images of the crackdown around Tiananmen square, including the photo of the ‘tankman’ standing in front of tanks of the People’s Liberation Army.
The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong also tweeted out an article by CNA on how a Catholic bishop in the U.K. called upon Britain to defend “fundamental freedoms” in Hong Kong after the Chinese parliament approved a controversial security law for the city.
“The U.K. has a clear legal, moral and historical duty to safeguard fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,” wrote Bishop Declan Lang in his letter to U.K.’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab.
“Failure to do so at this critical time will not only have devastating consequences for more than seven million people living there but is also likely to have dangerous repercussions for human rights and international law more broadly,” the bishop stated.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on June 4 that Britain will not walk away from the people of Hong Kong if China imposes a national security law that would conflict with its international obligations under a 1984 accord.
The United Kingdom has urged China to step back from the brink over the national security legislation for Hong Kong that it says risks destroying one of the jewels of Asia’s economy while ruining the reputation of China.
“Hong Kong succeeds because its people are free,” Johnson wrote in the Times of London newspaper. “If China proceeds, this would be in direct conflict with its obligations under the joint declaration, a legally binding treaty registered with the United Nations.
“Many people in Hong Kong fear that their way of life — which China pledged to uphold — is under threat,” Johnson said.
Johnson repeated Britain’s pledge to give British National Overseas (BNO) passport-holders in Hong Kong a path to British citizenship, allowing them to settle in the United Kingdom.
There are about 350,000 holders of BNO passports in Hong Kong and another 2.5 million are eligible for them, Johnson said.
With Reuters
