On June 4, instead of going to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to attend the candlelight vigil organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China (the Alliance) to commemorate the massacre in Beijing 32 years ago, I had to go to Tseung Kwan O to attend a requiem mass at St Andrew’s Church celebrated by Cardinal Joseph Zen. This was one of seven Catholic churches in the city which organized service to enable members of the public to legally commemorate the atrocities.

For the first time in Hong Kong, the authorities have banned June 4 candlelight vigil at Victoria Park. They used the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse and deployed 7,000 police officers in Causeway Bay and elsewhere to break up gathering of mourners.

In the morning of June 4, the police arrested barrister Chow Hang-tung, Vice Chairwoman of the Alliance, for promoting the candlelight vigil despite the ban. She was released on $10,000 bail the following day. The police also halted traffic at the three cross-harbor tunnels that afternoon to check the passengers, causing huge congestion and great anger.

The football pitches of Victoria Park, where tens of thousands of people attended candlelight vigil for over three decades, were off limits to the public. Some pro-Beijing politicians supported the ban, saying the Alliance’s slogan of ending one party rule is subversive and may breach the National Security Law (NSL) which Beijing imposed on the city last June.

To many people in Hong Kong and in the international community, the ban showed the government’s lack of confidence and growing intolerance of dissenting views, particularly criticisms which target the central government. However, thousands of people still poured onto the streets surrounding Victoria Park in defiance of the ban. At the end of the day, a handful of people were arrested.

Before June 4, two prominent leaders of the Alliance, Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and Vice-Chairman Albert Ho, were sent to prison for taking part in an unauthorized assembly. Before his incarceration, Ho urged members of the public not to force their way into Victoria Park. Instead, they should commemorate the atrocities in their own way. “Everywhere in Hong Kong is Victoria Park,” Ho said.

The mass turnout of people, including many youngsters, showed they have not forgotten the massacre in 1989 and want to fight for a free and democratic Hong Kong, and a free and democratic China. Given the continuing repression of freedoms and civil liberties in the city, there is concern that the annual candlelight vigil would be banned forever, and people will not be allowed to express themselves and demonstrate freely.

In 1984 the international community was surprised when the Chinese government signed an agreement with the British government on how it would govern Hong Kong after the handover in 1997 under the policy of “one country, two systems.” For a number of years after the handover, Beijing kept the promises of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, and Hong Kong flourished as a free, prosperous, safe and vibrant international business and financial center.

The central government began tightening its grip after 2003 when the Hong Kong government failed to enact legislation on national security based on Article 23 of the Basic Law. Hundreds of thousands of people marched against the administration of the first Chief Executive C. H. Tung. That set alarm bells ringing in Beijing, which began sending unofficial emissaries to the city to collect information and file reports.

Many Hong Kong people continued to resist the draconian NSL and demanded democratic elections. In 2010 Beijing accepted the Democratic Party’s political reform proposal and created the five so-called super seats in the Legislative Council (Legco). Unfortunately, after that Beijing refused to hold dialogue with pro-democracy political parties and relations deteriorated.

When President Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012, the situation got worse as Beijing tried to exert comprehensive control over Hong Kong. Even then, few people predicted that things could degenerate so rapidly since the introduction of the Extradition Bill in 2019 by Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Beijing imposed the NSL on Hong Kong in June 2020 and overhauled the electoral system, making it impossible for political activists to stand for election. So far more than 10,000 people have been arrested, many were thrown into prison and an atmosphere of white terror has descended upon the city, forcing many people to keep silent, conduct self-censorship or get out.

The banning of the candlelight vigil at Victoria Park coincided with announcement in the UK by Baroness Hale that she has decided not to renew her term as an overseas non-permanent judge in the Court of Final Appeal (CFA). When Baroness Hale was appointed to the CFA in 2018, she was president of Britain’s Supreme Court and an inspirational and highly respected figure. Her departure is a blow to the justice system in Hong Kong, leading to concern that it might be followed by other overseas CFA judges.

In spite of continuing deterioration in civil liberties and the rule of law and incarceration of many political activists, the fight for human rights, freedom, rule of law and democracy will go on. Many Hong Kong people want to remind the central government to keep the promises of “one country, two systems” made in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law and respect the people’s wishes and aspirations.

For Hong Kong, the game is not over. However, the struggle should be conducted in a peaceful, rational and non-violent way. In order to be resilient, we have to be bold, careful and wise. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to carry on the struggle in a dignified, valiant and resourceful way.

(Emily Lau, Chairperson, International Affairs Committee of the Democratic Party)

From today onwards, Emily Lau’s article can be found in our Columnist section.

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