Hong Kong: thousands take to streets in memory of Tiananmen dead
Organizers said more than 44,000 people took part in the event. Cardinal Zen: "Some people say it's been 17 years and let's drop this historical baggage. But do we just wipe it out, leave it unsettled or just pretend it has never happened?"
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/SCMP) Candle in hand, thousands of people gathered together last night to mark the 17th anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989. According to the organizers, the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, over 44,000 people attended.
The relatively low turnout is seen as an indicator of the "relaxed" atmosphere between the Territory and Beijing, although the Communist Party has failed to make any progress in implementing democratic reforms announced.
During a prayer vigil held before the manifestation, Cardinal Zen, the archbishop of Hong Kong, said: "Some people say it's been 17 years and let's drop this historical baggage. But do we just wipe it out, leave it unsettled or just pretend it has never happened?"
Szeto Wah, alliance chairman, addressed the crowd gathered in Victoria Park: "Hong Kong is the only place on Chinese soil where candles are lit every year in memory of students who were massacred by armoured tanks." In a taped message, exiled dissident Wang Dan said the desire of the demonstrators was "very simple. We just want our people to live with liberty and dignity."
Kim Li, a 20-year-old student at the University of Science and Technology, said: "China criticised Japan for changing history but it dares not to admit what it has done in Tiananmen and so it is doing the same."
Even leaders of Taiwan had something to say about the matter. Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Kuomintang [Nationalist Party], said Beijing "has to face the issue sooner or later". Ma widely tipped to be the island's next president released a statement the day before the rally, saying: "The earlier it can face the issue and adjust, the better its chances of tackling it in a dignified manner."
Talking about his candidature for the presidency in relation to this statement, he said: "Although there are differences with Beijing, they must understand that our basic values like freedom, democracy and health for all, cannot be changed."
On 4 June 1989, troops of the national army, backed by armoured tanks, cracked down on Tiananmen square. They massacred defenceless protesters who, for more than a month, had taken to the streets of the capital to call for democracy and an end to corruption in Chinese society. The death toll of the massacre was never published by the government but independent organizations say thousands of people were killed in the days following 4 June, around the square and in side streets.
.png)
