(June 4) Hong Kong deployed thousands of police officers on Friday night and prevented major protests on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, although some residents still risked arrest to register their defiance as Beijing increases its control over the city.
Authorities cited the pandemic in banning the June 4 vigil for the second year in a row, arresting democracy activists and locking down a major park where the event’s been held for three decades. Officials have barred groups of more than four people in public despite few daily virus cases, with critics saying the move is more to prevent the reemergence of protests that rocked the city in 2019.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau warned anyone taking part in an unauthorized assembly could face as long as five years in prison. “The public should not defy the law,” the agency said, referencing a national security law that China imposed on the city last year that’s been used to jail dozens of well-known pro-democracy activists.
As some protesters gathered near Victoria Park, the traditional vigil site, police raised a purple banner to tell those chanting “Hong Kong independence, the only way out” that they could be violating the security law — which bars secession.
With residents unable to meet in large numbers in the actual park — which was blockaded and packed with police officers — some Hong Kongers marked the anniversary on their own with electric candles, or held smaller impromptu vigils and religious gatherings. Those who showed up at Victoria Park were searched, asked to leave or detained.
One man walking in Victoria Park with his mobile phone torch turned on was pulled aside and grew visibly upset as he was questioned by police.
“My heart is breaking,” he told police.
“Go see a doctor if you have heart pain,” an officer replied. The police said in a statement that, as of 11.30 p.m., they had arrested four men and two women on suspicion of promoting or announcing an unauthorized assembly, criminal damage, obstruction of officers and misconduct in a public place.
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