Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Hong Kong Tiananmen Vigil Officially Banned

Verna Yu

   HONG KONG - Hong Kong police on Monday formally banned an annual
   candlelit vigil to mourn the victims of the crackdown on the 1989
   Tiananmen pro-democracy movement that has taken place uninterrupted for
   30 years, saying the event would pose a "major threat to public
   health", said organizers.

   In response the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic
   Movements of China is asking Hong Kongers to hold individual
   commemorations through small gatherings, lighting candles at home, or
   online meetings on Thursday night, the 31st anniversary of the military
   crackdown.

   Already, after the Hong Kong government extended a ban on gatherings
   imposed over the coronavirus outbreak to June 4, the group had urged
   supporters to light candles wherever they are in the city on the
   anniversary.

   Richard Tsoi, the group's spokesman, told VOA that its members still
   plan to gather at Victoria Park to light candles in groups of eight, in
   order not to breach the government's social distancing restrictions,
   and would stream the event live online.

   He voiced fears that this year's Tiananmen commemoration might be Hong
   Kong's last, as national security laws imposed by China on Hong Kong
   would prevent and punish "acts and activities" that threaten national
   security, including secession, subversion and terrorism and foreign
   interference. The legislation would also allow Chinese national
   security organs to set up agencies in Hong Kong.

   "There is a real danger that this might be the last time," said Tsoi.
   "The definition of subversion under the national security law is broad
   and this means room for (this kind of) activities would be narrowed."

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