HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police detained a performance artist on the eve of the 35th anniversary of Crackdown in Tiananmen Square in Chinasignaling the decrease in freedom of expression in the city.
Police on Monday removed Sanmu Chen from a street in Causeway Bay, a busy commercial district in Hong Kong, near a park that for decades hosted an annual vigil mourning victims of the 1989 crackdown.
Before officers approached Chen, he imitated drinking in front of a police van. He also appeared to be drawing or writing something in the air.
It is unclear whether police formally arrested him. On the same day last year, Chen was also detained by police in the same area after shouting “Hong Kongers, don’t be afraid. Don’t forget that tomorrow is June 4th.”
Police did not immediately comment.
For decades, the vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park used to draw thousands of people every June 4 to remember the crackdown, during which government troops opened fire on student-led pro-democracy protesters, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands. , of dead.
But the vigil has it disappeared under the shadow of a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. Critics say its disappearance illustrated that the freedoms promised to be kept intact in Hong Kong for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 , were drastically eroded.
After the law was enacted, the group that organized the vigil dissolved. Three of its former leaders, including activist Chow Hang-tung, were accused of subversion under the comprehensive law. Related to Tiananmen statues were also removed of universities.
Like last year, Victoria Park will host a carnival of pro-Beijing groups on Tuesday.
The governments of Beijing and Hong Kong have insisted the law helped bring stability back to the city after huge anti-government protests in 2019.
On Monday morning, police arrested an eighth person on suspicion of alleged sedition for posting content on social media about commemorating the Tiananmen crackdown under a new domestically developed national security law. Among the suspects in the case is activist Chow, who is now in custody.
Several pro-democracy activists in the city told the Associated Press that police had asked about their plans for Tuesday. At least one activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns about government reprisals, said they had been asked not to go to “sensitive places.”
On Sunday, a Christian newspaper, which normally publishes content related to the event before its anniversary, left its front page virtually blank in its latest edition. He said he responded to the current situation by turning words into squares and blank spaces.
Last week, Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Stephen Chow wrote an article that made subtle reference to the anniversary of the crackdown, calling for forgiveness, which he said could make “reconciliation and healing” possible.
Chow said the event 35 years ago was still a sore point and needed to be addressed properly, but said his faith compelled him to forgive anyone and anything.
“Perhaps it is through forgiveness that all parties can escape the accusations and the painful ‘I will never forgive’ mentality,” he wrote.
