Hong Kong: Organizers of the June 4 vigil to disband due to the crackdown

In the face of escalating government repression, a Hong Kong pro-democracy group that used to organise the annual June 4 vigils for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square event has decided to disband. According to a report by NHK World, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Chinese Patriotic Democratic Movements made the decision at an emergency meeting on Saturday.

As a symbol of Hong Kong's lasting liberties, the group holds a candlelight vigil. The alliance was formed in 1989, shortly before the Tiananmen Square incident, to show support for the student demonstrators. When the People's Liberation Army was dispatched to crackdown on protests in Beijing in 1989, hundreds of people perished and the Tiananmen Square massacre sent shockwaves around the world. Hundreds of Hong Kong politicians signed petitions or issued public remarks condemning the incident.

Last year and this year, the group was barred from conducting June 4 vigil

However, many have climbed up the political ladder as pro-Beijing personalities or assumed government jobs over the years, keeping their mouths shut about China's political scar. The Communist Party has yet to account for the occurrence and any discussion of it on the mainland is suppressed. Last year and this year, the group was barred from conducting its traditional June 4 vigil. Leaders of the Alliance, like Lee Cheuk-yan, have been imprisoned for holding demonstrations without permission.

According to NHK World on September 9, police charged the group and three of its senior members including Lee with encouraging subversion in violation of Hong Kong's national security statute. For taking part in the unlawful candlelight vigil in 2020, which was the first time it was outlawed under COVID-19 social gathering regulations, a total of 16 democrats and activists have been convicted to prison or given suspended sentences.

Hong Kong government is targeting civil society organisations

Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director, Yamini Mishra, earlier said in an email statement that the alliance's "essentially forced disbandment" proved that the Chinese authorities were attempting to control all discussion of the crackdown in Hong Kong, as they do on the mainland. She said that it is apparent that the Hong Kong government is targeting civil society organisations with broad backing and the potential to mobilise. She added that the government's crackdown on such groups appears to be on the rise.

(Inputs from ANI/ AP News)

Image: AP