Hong Kong’s leader has warned that events in the city mourning those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown will be subject to laws, including the national security legislation.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor addressed concerns on the issue on Tuesday, four days ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the crackdown.
Asked if residents who gathered at Victoria Park or commemorated the crackdown by lighting candles at home on Saturday would face legal consequences, Lam said all public activities must fulfil legal requirements regardless of purpose.
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Can Hongkongers still hold June 4 commemorative events?
“As far as any gathering is concerned, there are a lot of legal requirements,” she told reporters before the weekly meeting of her de facto cabinet on Tuesday. “There is a national security law, there is the social-distancing restrictions under Cap 599 [of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance], and there is also a venue question.
“So whether a particular activity has received authorisation to take place in a particular venue has to be decided by the owner of the venue.”
Under current Covid-19 pandemic rules, the gathering limit in public places is capped at four.
The football pitches at Victoria Park had since 1990 been a venue for tens of thousands of people who gathered for an annual candlelight vigil to mark the 1989 crackdown in Beijing and commemorate pro-democracy activists killed in the incident.
But for the past two years, authorities banned the event, citing public health concerns related to the pandemic.
Security law concerns put halt to Hong Kong’s diocese annual Tiananmen mass
Chow Hang-tung, vice-chairwoman of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was sentenced to 15 months’ jail in January for her role in instigating an illegal gathering at the park on June 4, 2021, through her remarks in two articles published on social media and in a local newspaper.
This year, football pitches at Victoria Park for June 4 have been fully booked, with officials saying the premises would be available for sports on that day but not for “other purposes”.
Meanwhile, Ward Memorial Methodist Church in Yau Ma Tei on Monday held a prayer meeting marking the anniversary of the crackdown. According to a poster released by the Christian church, the event for members involved the singing of hymns, as well as the sharing of messages and prayer.
The city’s Catholic churches previously announced they would not hold the annual mass over the occasion for the first time in three decades, citing security law concerns.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong church holds June 4 commemorative event marking anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown amid national security law concerns
- Hong Kong Catholic churches will not hold annual Tiananmen memorial mass for first time in decades over national security law concerns
- Government body to represent Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil group in coming national security trial
- University of Hong Kong blocks off part of bridge featuring calligraphy commemorating Tiananmen Square crackdown
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