While Hong Kong people were unable to commemorate the June 4 incident in Victoria Park due to the police ban on rallies and venue closures, candlelight memorial rallies in many overseas regions had a Hong Kong element and a sudden increase in numbers.
According to Global Solidarity, an anti-China organization, at least a dozen cities around the world held large June 4 memorial rallies, including Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada; New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles in the United States; Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide in Australia; London and Prague in Europe; and Taiwan. Prague, and Taiwan. The rallies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada ranged from 500 to 800 participants, including Los Angeles, which was held in two sessions, each with nearly 300 attendees, a significant increase compared to similar rallies in the past, where only a few dozen to 100 people attended, with Toronto having the largest number of nearly 1,000 participants.
When in Beijing to witness the June 4 crackdown on the former members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students Li Lanju has been involved in the preparation of the rally for many years, she pointed out that the rally in the past to the largest number of people in Vancouver, but this year in the return of young people from Hong Kong or immigrants to assist and promote, not only the age of participants significantly younger, the number of people also surged, with nearly 1,000 people record has to be traced back to the “June 4 “The record of nearly 1,000 participants dates back to the 10th anniversary of the June 4 memorial rally. She described the participants as “very angry” because many people came with their families “in a two-hour car” and had to bring their own mourning and epidemic prevention materials, so those who came must have a strong will.
From the many live broadcasts, participants not only mourned the June 4 Incident and condemned Beijing, but also chanted anti-revisionist slogans such as “Go Hong Kong People” and “Restore the Hong Kong Revolution” from time to time. Toronto, New York and London were no exception. In fact, many exiled protesters have participated in local June 4 rallies, and mentioned the oppressive experience of Hong Kong people being banned from entering Victoria Park and chanting slogans freely, claiming to let the candlelight of mourning be lit overseas.
Overseas Hong Kong people take over the mourning for June 4: with the power of the race not to withdraw from Taiwan has destroyed the mourning event
The former chairman of the Hong Kong House of Representatives and former legislator Luo Guancong in the London rally attended by 500 people called on the masses “do not forget June 4”, as well as the days of some major events in 2019: “June 9, July 21 …… “As long as there are people, as long as there are lights, …… countless days that will disappear in the annual calendar will not be forgotten.
The former secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students in New York, Chow Wing Hong, also led the crowd in “fearlessly calling slogans” at a memorial party hosted by local Hong Kong people’s groups, including the “end of one-party dictatorship” in the five major programmes of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which is said to be “illegal”. The “end of one-party dictatorship” and the “five demands” against legislative amendments, “the restoration of the Hong Kong era revolution”, and called on the people of Hong Kong to take care and cheer up. He later said on his Facebook page that those who are resisting in Hong Kong can arouse the determination of those who are watching Hong Kong from overseas, and that the game against the dictatorial regime has already started and cannot be easily withdrawn.
After Hong Kong and Macau were banned from large-scale public mourning for June 4, Taiwan is the only place in the three places on both sides of the Taiwan Strait where public mourning for June 4 is possible, but due to the outbreak of the epidemic, no more than 10 people can gather in public places. 26 co-organized groups such as the Chinese Democratic Institute held an online mourning party yesterday (4) and set up a mourning pavilion in front of Liberty Square for the public to lay flowers in tribute, and Lin Rongji, the former Causeway Bay bookstore manager who lives in Taiwan, was also present. He called on local people to cherish this freedom.
The event, which was joined by the Thai online organization “Milk Tea Alliance” for the first time, went generally smoothly, but towards the end, someone suddenly pushed down the display board next to the “memorial” with malicious intent, and was immediately arrested by the police. The Chinese Association of Democracy and People’s Livelihood (ADF) filed a complaint, and the chairman of the board, Tsang Kin-yuen, said that there is no compromise on violence because it is an important principle in the development of democracy around the world.
With Hong Kong people dispersed to different places and banned from public collective mourning, this year’s June 4, in addition to more physical rallies overseas, online also more online mourning party and seminars across cities, next year we must meet in the cloud or can participate in physical rallies, only leave time to prove.
Recent Comments