The organizers of the traditional Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong have voted to disband their group amid increasing pressure from the authorities.
"This is a very painful resolution," said Tsang Kin-shing of the Hong Kong Alliance on Saturday after the vote.
The group has been organizing the vigils commemorating the events in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 for three decades.
The annual events have for years been one of the clearest symbols of Hong Kong's political plurality.
During the crackdown on the protests for more democracy on June 4, 1989 in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, hundreds, according to some estimates more than a thousand, were killed.
On the two previous anniversaries, however, the vigils were banned.
In 2020, thousands opposed the ban.
Numerous activists from all political camps were charged as a result.
The Hong Kong Alliance leaders were also charged with "incitement to overthrow" and the premises of the Tiananmen Square memorial to the 1989 crackdown on protests were raided.
In Hong Kong there had been mass protests against Beijing's growing influence for months in 2019.
Since then, the authorities have been acting with increasing severity against critics of the Chinese government.
In July 2020, the so-called Security Act came into force, allowing the Hong Kong authorities to crack down on all activities that they believe threaten the national security of China.