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
  • 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
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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