Hundreds in Taiwan gather to mark Tiananmen anniversary while Hong Kongers can't

Record ID: 1675504

  • Title: Hundreds in Taiwan gather to mark Tiananmen anniversary while Hong Kongers can't
  • Date: 4th June 2022
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (JUNE 4, 2022) (REUTERS) SMALL SCUFFLE OUTSIDE VICTORIA PARK AS POLICE TRYING TO CLEAR CROWD OF PEOPLE/ MAN DETAINED BY POLICE MAN DETAINED BY POLICE VARIOUS OF POLICE VAN LEAVING MAN QUESTIONED BY POLICE AS WEARING 1989 TIANANMEN INCIDENT RELATED T-SHIRT POLICE ARRESTING THE MAN VARIOUS OF CANDLES INSIDE HONG KONG'S U.S. CONSULATES CLOSED VICTORIA PARK IN HONG KONG VARIOUS OF POLICE STANDING OUTSIDE VICTORIA PARK IN HONG KONG TAIPEI, TAIWAN (JUNE 4, 2022) (REUTERS) BASE OF ‘PILLAR OF SHAME’ REPLICA BEING CARRIED OVER TO PODEST VARIOUS OF ‘PILLAR OF SHAME’ REPLICA BEING ASSEMBLED TOP OF ‘PILLAR OF SHAME’ REPLICA SIGN BEING INSTALLED READING (English): “THE OLD CANNOT KILL THE YOUNG FOREVER, THE TIANANMEN MASSACRE JUNE 4TH 1989” PEOPLE POSING NEXT TO STATUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HONG KONGER LIVING IN TAIWAN, MARILYN, SAYING: “I think it’s really nice that we get to do this in Taiwan, because now that Hong Kong is banned, they cannot go to the Victoria Park to, like, commemorate this event anymore. So, it is a responsibility for us Hong Kongers to continue spread awareness of this June 4 movement.” VARIOUS OF FLAGS READING 'HONG KONG INDEPENDENCE' FLYING ELECTRIC CANDLES PLACED ON NUMBER '8964' (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 23-YEAR-OLD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE, JACK HU, SAYING: “Although my generation has not directly witnessed the situation when the June Fourth happened, but through the Wild Lily Student Movement and the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan, and after that the Umbrella Revolution and the 2019 protests in Hong Kong, which are all related to the suppression and the cruelty of the Chinese authorities, we can feel the suppression by them towards us. So in the face of the ever increasing military threats by China in recent years, we can learn through events like this (Tiananmen anniversary) that they will use whatever suppressive tactics that they are already using on their own people to also suppress Taiwan or any other place in the world.” VARIOUS OF ELECTRIC CANDLES PLACED ON NUMBER '8964' (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 23-YEAR-OLD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE, JACK HU, SAYING: “Just as it was just said on stage, we are currently the only country left in the Chinese-speaking world where the Tiananmen anniversary can be openly commemorated, especially now that Hong Kong has been forced to cancel all events due to the national security law. So to hold this event for the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown this year, is even more an opportunity for Taiwan, Hong Kong and the world to bring back the cruel memories of the Tiananmen crackdown and look out into the future.” SPEAKER ON STAGE VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE LISTENING WITH ELECTRIC CANDLES
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2022 17:53
  • Keywords: ANNIVERSARY CRACKDOWN HONG KONG TAIWAN TIANANMEN
  • Location: TAIPEI, TAIWAN / HONG KONG, CHINA
  • City: TAIPEI, TAIWAN / HONG KONG, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA001268704062022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of people gathered in Taipei on Saturday (June 4) to commemorate China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square 33 years ago.
    Chinese-run Hong Kong deployed heavy security to prevent any sign of protest there.
    Saturday is the anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire to end the student-led unrest in and around the square in central Beijing. China has never provided a full death toll from the events of June 4, 1989, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into the thousands.
    China bans any public commemoration of the event on the mainland, and Hong Kong authorities have clamped down too, making democratic Taiwan the only part of the Chinese-speaking world where it can be remembered openly.
    Activists in Taipei assembled a new version of the "Pillar of Shame" - a statue commemorating Tiananmen protesters that a leading Hong Kong university removed in December from its campus, where it had stood for more than two decades. Shouts in support of Hong Kong rang out after the statue was put up.
    In the Hong Kong's Victoria Park, where people had come together for an annual vigil before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, authorities blocked off main parts of the venue and warned residents against illegal gatherings.
    Hundreds of police, some with sniffer dogs, patrolled the park area and conducted stop-and-search checks. As night fell, floodlights lit up an empty expanse of football pitches.
    The last time the vigil was held in Hong Kong, in 2019, more than 180,000 people attended, according to organizer estimates, filling six football fields.
    China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 punishing acts of subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. Beijing said the law was necessary to restore stability after anti-government protests in 2019.
    (Production: Joyce Zhou, Jessie Pang, Fabian Hamacher, Sophia Wang)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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