By Catherine Lai

Activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung once led thousands of Hong Kongers in candlelight vigils every June 4 to remember China’s 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

This year, the pair are facing up to 10 years in jail after their trial under a Beijing-imposed national security law, during which they sought to defend the slogans they had chanted openly for decades.

Hong Kong and Macau used to be the only places on Chinese soil that permitted large-scale vigils to mourn those who died on June 4, 1989, when the government sent troops and tanks to crush protests calling for political reform.

But public commemoration has been effectively banned since the national security law’s introduction in 2020, following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before in Hong Kong.

See also: Explainer: What to know about Hong Kong’s past Tiananmen commemorations and nat. security trial of vigil leaders

Lee and Chow’s fate is a “gesture by the government to tell everyone where the boundary is, what is no longer allowed to be discussed”, Dennis, a 29-year-old Hongkonger who used to attend the vigils, told AFP.

“The space for public discussion is much smaller, if it even exists,” he said, using a pseudonym for fear of retaliation.

Lee and Chow, who organised the vigils as leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, are expected to receive their verdict in July on charges of “incitement to subversion”.

‘Space for discussion’

At the time, the Chinese government officially defined the Tiananmen protests as a “counter-revolutionary riot” driven by a “very small number of people”, justifying the use of force on June 4 as necessary to restore order.

It said around 200 protestors were killed, as well as several dozen soldiers.

The precise toll is unknown, but most other estimates range from 400 to over 1,000.

The Hong Kong Alliance, formed in May 1989 to support the demonstrators, began campaigning for redress after the crackdown.

For decades, its annual vigils were attended by tens of thousands, turning the city’s Victoria Park into a sea of candlelight.

Calls to “end one-party rule” and “build a democratic China” were commonplace — a fact prosecutors in Lee and Chow’s trial now argue amounted to incitement to subvert the state.

Dennis remembers watching livestreams of the gatherings as a child, and debating their relevance as a university student when they came to be considered old-fashioned by some.

“At least before… whether you considered (the vigil) cheesy or not, there was still space for discussion,” he told AFP.

‘Everything has changed’

Former legislator Emily Lau said she no longer recognises her own city.

“Everything has changed, there are many things that you are not allowed to say, do not dare to say, won’t say… many media outlets have shut, much of civil society has vanished,” she told AFP.

In recent years, police have detained mourners around Hong Kong’s central Victoria Park and arrested multiple people for Tiananmen-related online posts.

On Wednesday, performance artist Sanmu Chan was stopped by police near the park as he unrolled a 6.4-metre (21-foot) long red string — a reference to the date and “red lines”.

Others will mark the day more subtly.

Dennis said he plans to listen to songs that were played at the vigils while walking around the area.

University student Laurie told AFP she didn’t “feel free speaking my mind… publicly” and would commemorate the day through prayers or a moment of silence.

“The issue is the lack of clear information on what is or is not allowed to (be talked) about, so people end up not saying anything altogether,” the 22-year-old said, using a pseudonym.

Hong Kong’s government told AFP it was committed to safeguarding the freedoms of citizens “that are protected by law”, but added that these were “not absolute”.

It warned that anyone using “the commemoration of a special day… to incite hatred” of China could be in violation of the city’s national security laws.

Zhou Fengsuo, a student leader during the 1989 demonstrations, said it was a “great loss” that the gatherings could no longer influence a young generation of Hong Kong activists.

“Every year on June 4th this (vigil) became a topic of international concern,” he said.

“That’s a crucial factor why the legacy of June 4th, 1989, is still known to the world today despite the Communist Party’s attempts to smear and obliterate it.”

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Ridley Scott’s career is usually discussed through the giants first: Alien for sci-fi horror, Blade Runner for cyberpunk, Gladiator for the modern historical epic,The Martian for survival cinema, and now The Dog Stars, his upcoming return to science fiction after nearly a decade away from the genre. But somewhere between his mythic worlds and futuristic nightmares sits one of his most punishingly grounded films, which is now streaming on Peacock.

“This prosecution is, in fact, a trial of the law itself,” Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung told a court last month.

Chow, 41, made the remark during a defiant closing argument in her trial.

The barrister-turned-activist sought to challenge the legitimacy of the national security allegations against herself, former colleague Lee Cheuk-yan, and the organisation they led, which held Hong Kong’s candlelight vigils commemorating China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

From 1990 to 2019, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China organised the commemorative event every year on June 4 at Victoria Park, demanding accountability for the bloody crackdown and the democratisation of China, both taboos in the country.

Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020, following the 2019 protests and unrest. In 2021, police arrested the Alliance’s leadership, including Chow, Lee, and Albert Ho. The Alliance voted to disband that year, ending its decades-long vigils and advocacy.

Chow, Lee, and the Alliance are standing trial for “inciting subversion” under the national security law, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars. Ho pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January.

HKFP looked at the events surrounding the establishment of the Alliance, the Tiananmen vigils it organised, and the ongoing trial of its leaders.

Hong Kong prosecutors have argued that the case against the Alliance is not political and does not concern its activism, the vigils, or the 1989 crackdown. They allege that, however, the group had been calling for the overthrow of China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) through its “end one-party rule” slogan – a key tenet of the Alliance since its founding.

For Chow, who represents herself in the trial, the prosecution has upended Hong Kong’s value of being a free-wheeling city that tolerates the kind of political dissent not permitted in mainland China.

The trial has in effect “cornered” the court, forcing it to choose its side between the rule of law and an authoritarian regime, she argued.

Alliance and 1989 Tiananmen crackdown

Massive pro-democracy demonstrations broke out in China in the spring of 1989, triggered by the death of Hu Yaobang, a former CCP leader seen as a reformist. Students and protesters gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square for weeks, demanding political reforms and democracy, as the rest of the country rallied to support those in the capital city.

In May that year, the Alliance was founded in Hong Kong, and huge demonstrations were staged in support of protesters in mainland China.

Around 1.5 million people joined a mass rally on May 28, a day after celebrities like Anita Mui, Teresa Teng, Eric Tsang, and Jackie Chan took part in the Alliance’s benefit concert in support of the students’ movement.

Lee personally went to Beijing to deliver donations raised during the concert. However, he was detained and made to sign a letter of remorse, around the time the tanks rolled in to crush the burgeoning movement. 

The protests in Beijing ended in a bloody crackdown as Chinese troops dispersed protesters on June 3 and 4. Estimates of death tolls during the crackdown range from hundreds to thousands.

In the years that followed, the Alliance organised candlelight vigils at Victoria Park every June 4 to commemorate the dead and to keep the spirit of the 1989 pro-democracy movement alive.

The Alliance’s five tenets – release pro-democracy activists, vindicate the 1989 democracy movement, hold those responsible for the crackdown accountable, end one-party rule, and build a democratic China – were an integral part of the candlelight vigils.

Tens of thousands of people attended the commemorations every year. They lit candles, sang songs, observed a moment of silence, and chanted the Alliance’s five slogans, led by the group’s leaders.

In 2020, authorities banned the vigil for the first time, citing Covid-19 restrictions. They prohibited the gathering again the following year, also citing the pandemic. The Alliance was disbanded in September 2021, following the arrests of its leaders.

No official vigils have been held since 2019, but there is a heavy police presence at Victoria Park and nearby streets on June 4.

For four consecutive years, Victoria Park has been occupied by a pro-China food festival in early June, including the anniversary day of the bloody crackdown.

‘Weird’ prosecution

In her closing argument last month, Chow said the prosecution was “weird,” as the defendants had not disputed the alleged acts and instead, they embraced what they did.

“Ending one-party rule means putting an end to the status quo, in which those in power are not bound by the law,” she told the court in Cantonese. “What is really in dispute is what the law suppresses and what it protects.”

According to the prosecution, the Alliance’s calls to “end one-party rule” had exceeded the legitimate boundary of freedom of expression as the defendants intended to stoke hatred against Beijing. “Freedom is not absolute,” lead prosecutor Ned Lai told the court in Cantonese.

Chow said the prosecution’s argument had undermined the values long championed in Hong Kong, such as freedom of expression and the rule of law.

“Speaking out the truth has become stoking hatred. Seeking justice has become taking advantage of suffering,” she said. “Asking for accountability has become breaching the constitution. Demanding democracy has become inciting subversion.”

She maintained that the court must protect human rights when reaching a verdict in the case.

“What the court has been asked to ban, to punish in this case are, in fact, what society and the law should encourage… They are the core values of Hong Kong, the norms and ideals accumulated through generations,” she said.

“I hope the court will make a correct decision to safeguard the dignity and bottom line of the law, at a time when values are being reshaped,” she added.

Prosecutors have argued that there are no “lawful means” to end CCP rule after a 2018 constitutional amendment stipulated that the party’s leadership is the “defining feature” of China’s socialist system.

During his closing submission last month, Lee’s lawyer, Erik Shum, argued that prosecutors had presented a “tautological theory.”

“We ask: How exactly did the Alliance incite others to overthrow the CCP? And my submission is that the prosecution has always reverted to the claim that ending CCP rule is illegal,” Shum said in Cantonese.

Shum urged the court to draw a boundary for what is considered an acceptable political expression and what is not.

“The court must not pay lip service to human rights protections,” he said.

The three-judge panel – Alex Lee, Johnny Chang, and Anna Lai – has adjourned the proceedings, saying they hope to deliver a verdict in “mid or late July.”

In a letter from prison this week, Chow, who has been behind bars since September 2021, said she would go on a 37-hour hunger strike in commemoration of the 37th anniversary of the 1989 crackdown.

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BEIJING, June 5 — China today tightened oversight of the country’s ‌23 trillion yuan (RM13.7 trillion) private fund industry, in a bid to reduce financial risks and channel money into technology innovation ‌and emerging industries.

China’s securities regulator said it would raise the bar for private fund registration, crack down on illegal fund activities and encourage long-term “patient” capital to support tech-focused venture capital investments.

“Strengthening oversight of private funds will help remove bad actors, create a sound environment for the industry ...and protect investors,” the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement.

The announcement came two weeks after ‌China launched a major crackdown on cross-border investment and ⁠tightened capital controls. It’s also ⁠part of Beijing’s broader campaign to ⁠direct resources into the tech ⁠sector, which ⁠is key in the Sino-US power rivalry.

The latest move represents a deepening of clean-up efforts that started in ⁠2023 that saw the de-registration of more than 5,000 private fund managers. Chinese private funds can invest in securities or make private equity investments.

“The industry is big, but not strong. Funding structure is imbalanced. And some ⁠funds have even become the tools for criminals,” the CSRC said.

According to the latest rules, regulators ⁠will set up a cross-agency monitoring platform to identify risks and misbehaviours. ⁠The ⁠watchdog will also step up monitoring of operation by government-backed funds.

The CSRC said it will clamp down hard on ‌illegal activities including illegitimate cross-border flows, illicit fundraising and misappropriation of money. — Reuters

China accused the United States on Thursday of distorting facts and smearing its political system, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said censorship could not “erase” the memory of Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

On June 4 that year, the Chinese government sent troops and tanks to crush protests calling for political reform in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

The death toll remains unknown, and discussion of what happened is censored in mainland China.

Rubio told a news conference on Wednesday that “no amount of censorship can erase the past”.

“Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday,” he said.

China’s foreign ministry said Thursday it firmly opposed Rubio’s comments.

“The Chinese government has long since reached a clear conclusion regarding that political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s,” ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news briefing.

“The relevant erroneous remarks by the US side distort historical facts, smear China’s political system and development path, and interfere in China’s internal affairs,” she said.

This year, authorities reportedly prevented the families of those who died in 1989 from visiting their graves at Beijing’s Wan’an Cemetery, with Amnesty International calling the move “a heartless act”.

Beijing has also moved in recent years to snuff out all public commemorations in Hong Kong, where an annual candlelight vigil had been held for decades before the imposition of a national security law in 2020.

AFP reporters saw a heavy police presence on Wednesday near Hong Kong’s Victoria Park, the former site of the event.

Late that night, activist Tang Ngok-kwan stood alone in the park, reading the names of hundreds of victims in a low voice under the watchful eyes of several plainclothes police officers.

Derek Chu, a former district councillor who has been giving out free candles in his shop every anniversary since 2022, told AFP that “the space for (free) speech is more and more narrow”.

A Chinese dissident who fled to South Korea this week in a rubber boat will be transferred to an immigration detention centre, police told AFP on Thursday.

Dong Guangping, a 68-year-old former policeman, has been a thorn in Beijing’s side for advocating political reform and human rights and served multiple prison stints over the years.

The longtime critic of China’s ruling Communist Party made several failed attempts to flee the country, including a 2019 bid to swim to the Taiwanese territory of Kinmen and a 2020 trip to Vietnam where he was detained by local police.

He was found by South Korean authorities on Monday night drifting off the country’s west coast on a 3.3-metre (11-foot) rubber boat with a 9.9-horsepower engine, and was questioned on suspicion of violating immigration laws.

Prosecutors asked the court to detain him, but the Daejeon District Court determined that “detention is not necessary” for the authorities’ investigation, a court spokesperson told AFP on Thursday.

The court spokesperson said Dong had two options: “If he is deemed an illegal immigrant, it would be appropriate to transfer him to an immigration detention centre. However, if he applies for refugee status, he can stay in the country in accordance with the Refugee Act.”

After the court’s determination, the dissident remained in police custody in Taean county, on South Korea’s western coast.

Dong will soon be transferred to the immigration office’s foreign detention centre, police in Taean told AFP.

Dong’s lawyer did not immediately return AFP’s requests for comment. Seoul’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

South Korea has granted political asylum to relatively few applicants since it began formally processing refugee claims in 1994, with an overall recognition rate in the low single digits despite tens of thousands of applications.

Critics say the low approval rate reflects strict screening and lengthy procedures, while the government maintains that decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and take security considerations into account.

Dong was dismissed from his work as a policeman after signing a petition a decade after Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to US-based advocacy group Human Rights in China.

He later spent about three years in prison from 2001 for “inciting subversion of state power”, United Nations experts said, and was detained again in 2014 over Tiananmen-related activities.

Dong fled to Thailand with his family, who later resettled in Canada as refugees, but Thai authorities handed him over to Chinese police in 2015 despite his UN-recognised refugee status.

The Tiananmen crackdown museum in Los Angeles was broken into and vandalised over the weekend, according to its co-founder Wang Dan.

“This morning, volunteers at the June Fourth Memorial Museum discovered upon arriving at work that the museum’s main gate had been vandalized and graffitied. We have already reported it to the police,” said Wang on Twitter on Sunday.

Wang was among the student leaders during the 1989 movement.

The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing.

“The perpetrator infiltrated the memorial hall and destroyed the surveillance cameras before beginning the acts of vandalism,” Wang said, adding that commemorative events would go ahead this week regardless.

Footage posted by the museum’s Twitter account appears to show historic items and information boards damaged with spray paint.

In a later tweet, Wang said that the CCTV system had been repaired, with footage handed over to the authorities. “The June Fourth Memorial Hall will never cease operations due to such acts of destruction and threats,” he said.

Museums attacked, shuttered

The June Fourth Memorial Museum in Los Angeles was opened last June by Chinese dissidents and survivors.

In April 2019, vandals struck Hong Kong’s June 4 museum.

A year after the 2020 security law was imposed in Hong Kong, a revamped museum shut down just three days after opening, with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department saying it lacked an entertainment licence.

An online museum remains largely inaccessible in Hong Kong.

For the fourth year in a row, Hong Kong’s Victoria Park – historically the site of annual candlelight vigils to remember the victims of the crackdown – will host a patriotic food carnival on June 4.

Dora Goodman Cameras has announced that it is shutting down its store, citing a rapidly changing market and rising costs.

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