- Title: Protesters vow Tiananmen crackdown memorial at Hong Kong Palace Museum site
- Date: 9th January 2017
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (JANUARY 9, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF HONG KONG STATION PROTEST INSIDE TRAIN STATION IN FRONT OF POSTERS OF BEIJING PALACE MUSEUM SECRETARY OF HONG KONG ALLIANCE IN SUPPORT OF PATRIOTIC DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT OF CHINA, LEE CHEUK-YAN, PROTESTING IN FRONT OF POSTER OF PALACE MUSEUM MEDIA POSTER OF PALACE MUSEUM WITH PROTEST BANNER IN FRONT LEE WEARING HEAD BAND POSTER OF TANK SAYING (English): "DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY SUPPORT THE TIANANMEN MOTHERS" (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY OF HONG KONG ALLIANCE IN SUPPORT OF PATRIOTIC DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT OF CHINA, LEE CHEUK-YAN, SAYING: "You know for Beijing of course they try to say the Beijing Palace Museum is all artefacts to remind people about the days of the Qing Dynasty or earlier about the Chinese historical cultural heritage but for us, you know when we look at this palace museum, what reminds us is not what is inside but what happened outside in '89 when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square when you know the army, the people of the army opened fire on its own people." COMMUTERS ON ESCALATOR PASSING POSTERS OF PALACE MUSEUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY OF HONG KONG ALLIANCE IN SUPPORT OF PATRIOTIC DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT OF CHINA, LEE CHEUK-YAN, SAYING: "Yeah for sure, if it's set up in Hong Kong and we need, we think we should remind the people who go to the palace museum what happened outside the palace so we will have activity in the future outside the Palace Museum to continue to reminding the people that we want change in China and vindication of June 4th." PROTESTERS WALKING AROUND STATION VARIOUS OF WOMAN HOLDING BANNER OF GODDESS OF DEMOCRACY AND DISSIDENT LI XIAOBO PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNER (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROTESTER, CHARLES SO, SAYING: "It's a little bit political thing and you know because the Hong Kong government has been eliminating many Hong Kong cultural landscape like the Star Pier and many collective memories for Hong Kongers, they eliminate many things, but today the government ironically say that they want to build thing kind of museum to me is not proper to the local people." VARIOUS OF MAINLAND MAN BEING ESCORTED AWAY BY POLICE WITH PROTESTERS SHOUTING "GO BACK TO THE MAINLAND"
- Embargoed: 24th January 2017 10:45
- Keywords: protest Tiananmen crackdown memorial Hong Kong
- Location: HONG KONG, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0015YCZ1VP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hong Kong democracy activists vowed on Monday (January 9) to use the site of a planned controversial museum in the city that will display national treasures from Beijing's Palace Museum to commemorate China's bloody crackdown on student-led protests in 1989.
Lee Cheuk-yan, former legislator and secretary of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, said he aims to use the area around the museum to host activities to remind people what happened outside the palace walls of the Forbidden City on June 4, 1989.
Lee and some 40 protesters, wearing headbands reminiscent of the ones worn by pro-democracy student protesters outside Tiananmen Square in 1989, on Monday shouted slogans and marched inside a subway station where a meters-long advertisement poster had the Palace Museum splashed across walls.
A man from mainland China was escorted away by police when he started getting an argument with protesters.
The Hong Kong Palace Museum, part of celebrations to mark this year's 20th anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese control, is the latest source of tension between pro and anti-Beijing forces since it was announced in late December.
Hong Kong is ruled under a "one country, two systems" principle that gives it wide-ranging freedoms not seen in mainland China, including the right to hold a candlelight vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown.
"You know for Beijing of course they try to say the Beijing Palace Museum is all artefacts to remind people about the days of the Qing Dynasty or earlier about the Chinese historical cultural heritage but for us, you know when we look at this palace museum, what reminds us is not what is inside but what happened outside in '89 when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square when you know the army, the people of the army opened fire on its own people," said Lee.
"We think we should remind the people who go to the palace museum what happened outside the palace so we will have activity in the future outside the Palace Museum to continue to reminding the people that we want change in China and vindication of June 4th," Lee added.
For China's ruling Communist Party, the 1989 demonstrations that clogged Tiananmen Square in Beijing and spread to other cities remains taboo. The government has never released a death toll of the crackdown, but estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand.
The museum, due to be completed in 2022, has been criticised by anti-Beijing activists over what they say was a lack of consultation by the government in the decision-making process.
A public consultation due to be held on Monday was postponed until Tuesday (January 10).
The former imperial palace in heart of the Chinese capital is commonly regarded as a physical symbol of China's long history and the Communist Party's might. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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