The organizer of the annual Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil in Hong Kong will discuss plans for this year’s rally with the police next Thursday.The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China would continue to apply for a vigil, its chair Lee Cheuk-yan had said before he was jailed.

But Sing Tao Daily has reported that the police would not approve the annual event. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department told Apple Daily that it had notified the alliance that any bookings for non-specified events at its free sites were suspended due to the pandemic.

Alliance secretary Richard Tsoi told Apple Daily on Thursday that it has applied for an annual march on May 30 and for the vigil on June 4. The police were yet to give a final reply, and the alliance would hold discussions with the force on May 20.

Tsoi declined to comment on alternative plans if the police banned the events like last year. He said the alliance would only hold legal events and it would handle the matter carefully, taking into consideration the changing political situation and a recent court judgment over unauthorized assembly on June 4 last year.

The pro-Beijing camp has launched a campaign against the alliance, targeting one of its five principles that mainland China’s one-party rule should be ended. In a Ming Pao article this week, Lo Man-tuen, the vice-chair of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, accused the alliance of violating mainland China’s constitution, and subversion under the Hong Kong national security law.

Tsoi said the group’s five principles had not changed since 1989 and it would not back down. Even if the authorities would not approve the events, the alliance would consider appealing or filing a judicial review, considering factors such as time, resources and chances of winning.

He believed Hongkongers would use their own methods to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre.

The alliance had discussed alternative events, Apple Daily has learned. If a march was banned, it would still organize street booths. Members of the alliance may appear at the vigil on June 4 in their personal capacities, if the vigil was also banned, and final plans would depend on discussions with the police.

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