Thousands of Hongkongers march in memory of June 4 on hottest day of year
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 01 June, 2014, 8:04pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 01 June, 2014, 8:42pm
Tony Cheung [email protected]
Protesters and members of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movement in China march on demonstration to commemorate those who died during June 4 crackdown. Photo: Dickson Lee
Up to 3,000 Hongkongers marched to the government headquarters on the hottest day of the year on Sunday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Lee Cheuk-yan, chairman of the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organised the event, said he was “very satisfied” with the turnout – double the 1,600 that marched last year – “on such a hot day”.
Police, however, said the turnout peaked at 1,900, and it was far below the 8,000 who took to the streets in 2009 to remember the 20th anniversary.
At about 1.30pm, the temperature at the Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui was 33.2 degrees Celsius, the hottest this year.
“Hongkongers see the June 4 vigil as more important [compared to yesterday’s march], so I think they will still come out on Wednesday to remember June 4,” Lee said, adding that he was confident that more than 150,000 would gather in Victoria Park.
Protesters commemorate those who died during June 4 crackdown. Photo: Dickson Lee
That was the attendance a year ago when the vigil was cut short by torrential rain.
The marchers started at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay at 3pm and reached the government headquarters in Admiralty two hours later, calling for the 1989 pro-democracy movement to be vindicated.
I wanted to pass on the message to my next generation
Tam Wai-pang
Those calling for justice included teacher Tam Wai-pang, who brought his two-year-old daughter on the march.
“I wanted her to feel the atmosphere …and I wanted to pass on the message to my next generation,” Tam said.
Like several protesters who spoke to the Post, he said he would take part in the candlelight vigil on Wednesday, hosted by the alliance.
This year the alliance has faced challenges from both sides of the political spectrum.
Traffic policeman rides past as hundreds of protesters march ahead of June 4th anniversary. Photo: Reuters
Independent pan-democrat lawmaker Wong Yuk-man will co-host a rally in Tsim Sha Tsui at the same time as the vigil in Victoria Park – hoping to attract 3,000 people.
Wong criticised the alliance’s event for being “ceremonial”, but the alliance had hit back that the vigil was a “solemn ceremony”.
Victor Wong Yu-cheung, a first-year history student at Chinese University, sided with the alliance. “The event has always been held at Victoria Park, so it doesn’t make sense to hold something [across the harbour],” the 19-year-old said.
He said the debate about political reform had raised his awareness about democracy and prompted him to join the march for the first time.
As marchers reached Southorn Playground in Wan Chai, a war of words erupted with activists from the pro-Beijing “6.4 Truth” campaign, which argues that the crackdown in 1989 was “reasonable”.
The two sides exchanged insults before police officers stepped in to calm things down.
Choi Suk-fong, a former journalist who witnessed the killings in Tiananmen Sqaure, said activists who defended Beijing were “hurting the victims’ families a second time”.
As the rally ended in Admiralty, about 200 people, including League of Social Democrats’ lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung and members of student group Scholarism marched to the central government’s liaison office in Sai Wan.
