It has been held for many years in Hong Kong on the night of the 4th, 33 years after the Tiananmen Square Incident, in which the movement of students seeking democratization was suppressed by force in Beijing, China, under the strict police alert. The memorial service was not held.
The organization that has hosted the rally has already been forced to dissolve, and activities related to the incident have been severely contained.
Citizens' groups meet every year on June 4th in Hong Kong to commemorate the victims with candles and ask the Chinese government to find out the truth about the Tiananmen Square Incident.
However, citizen groups were forced to dissolve last year, and most of the activists who played a central role in the democratization movement were also arrested and prosecuted, and no group applied for a rally. ..
In the park where the rally has been held for many years, on the night of the 4th, a large number of police officers blocked the surrounding area and excluded people trying to approach, and in the nearby downtown area, there was a strict alert such as inspecting the belongings of the citizens. Continued.
Hong Kong's memorial rally has been perceived as a symbol of speech and freedom of assembly guaranteed by the one country, two systems, but last year the police did not allow it to be held, and activities related to the case It is tightly contained.
Every year, a man who attended the rally said, "He can't say anything and it's hard to hold back his feelings."
Reproduction of the memorial statue at a memorial rally in Taiwan
Meanwhile, in Taiwan, a memorial rally for the Tiananmen Square Incident was held on the night of the 4th, showing a reproduction of a statue in memory of the victims of the incident that was removed last year in Hong Kong.
This statue was created by a Danish artist with the motif of the victims of the Tiananmen Square Incident. It has been installed on the campus of the University of Hong Kong since 1998, and people seeking the truth of the incident are in front of the statue every year. We had a memorial event.
However, in December of last year, the university removed the statue as "to avoid the risk of violating the law" while the Hong Kong National Security Law, which cracks down on anti-government movements, has been caught one after another.
In response, a Taiwanese citizen group duplicated it with a 3D printer with the consent of the creator and showed it at a memorial rally in Taipei City last night.
Approximately 500 people, including Hong Kong residents in Taiwan, participated in the rally and silently prayed to the victims from 8:09 pm to 64 seconds after the incident occurred on June 4, 1989.
Former President So Jian of the "Chinese Democratic Shoin Association" said, "Military aircraft and warships of the same government that crushed students at Tiananmen and robbed Hong Kong of freedom are now around Taiwan. Unless Taiwan thinks of those who have been persecuted as their own, people from other countries will not think of Taiwan, "he emphasized the significance of the memorial service.