Τens of Thousands Turn up for Tiananmen Vigil in Hong Kong
- Tens of thousands of people attend a candlelight vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on June 4, 2012 to mark the 23rd anniversary of the June 4 Chinese military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing.
As censors in mainland China worked overtime on Monday to muzzle online discussion of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, a massive crowd in Hong Kong—including some mainland visitors—took advantage of the city’s freedoms to publicly remember the event.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators packed Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Monday night, holding up candles and glowing cellphones to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the crackdown in a ceremony that included comment from one of China’s highest profile human rights activists.
Organizers claimed a new record of 180,000 for the annual vigil, up from 150,000 last year, while police estimates pegged the crowd at 85,000 at its peak, up from 77,000 in 2011.
This year’s event comes as the city prepares for its first new political leader in seven years, Leung Chun-ying, who has close ties with Beijing and is viewed with heavy suspicion by the city’s pro-democracy movement. Mr. Leung takes office on July 1.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators packed Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Monday night, holding up candles and glowing cellphones to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the crackdown in a ceremony that included comment from one of China’s highest profile human rights activists.
Organizers claimed a new record of 180,000 for the annual vigil, up from 150,000 last year, while police estimates pegged the crowd at 85,000 at its peak, up from 77,000 in 2011.
This year’s event comes as the city prepares for its first new political leader in seven years, Leung Chun-ying, who has close ties with Beijing and is viewed with heavy suspicion by the city’s pro-democracy movement. Mr. Leung takes office on July 1.
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