Hong Kong Leader Says Tiananmen Memorials Could Violate National Security Law

Outgoing Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that vigils for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre could violate not only coronavirus safety protocols, but also the draconian “national security law” imposed on the island by Beijing in 2020.

“Any public activity in Hong Kong, regardless of the purpose, has to fulfill the requirements in the law. As far as any gathering is concerned there are a lot of legal requirements – there is the national security law, there is the social distancing restrictions under Cap. 599, and there is also a venue question,” Lam said at a press briefing.

The Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) trenchantly noted that Lam failed to specify which clause of the national security law might be violated by a peaceful candlelight vigil, such as those Hong Kong famously held every June 4 until the coronavirus was used as an excuse to begin quashing them.

The HKFP followed up by asking Lam’s office to “clarify which part of the security law may forbid a commemorative gathering,” but the question was punted to the Hong Kong Security Bureau.

“Freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are not absolute, and can be subject to restrictions prescribed by law that are necessary for, amongst other reasons, protection of national security, public order or public health,” a spokesperson for Lam’s office insisted, sounding uncomfortably similar to the current U.S. president discussing his view of the Bill of Rights.

The Chinese Communist Party is desperate to erase the Tiananmen Square massacre from history, a mission greatly complicated by Hong Kong holding huge annual memorials in Victoria Park. The coronavirus pandemic provided an excuse to cancel the event for the first time in 2020, and then again in 2021. 

Hong Kong’s Beijing-controlled government cracked down on “illegal” vigils held spontaneously by residents despite the ban. In September 2021, the group that organized the Tiananmen memorial every year since 1989 was forced to disband as its leaders were persecuted under the national security law.

The “venue question” Lam alluded to has been artificially created by Victoria Park officials simply refusing to book any time for the world-famous Tiananmen observance. 

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) checked last week and found that all of the fields in Victoria Park are supposedly booked for June 4 – but almost all of the other slots between June 1 and June 23 are open. By a remarkable coincidence, the day of the traditional Tiananmen Square demonstration looks like the only day in June when the park is booked solid.

The HKFP recalled that in 2021, Victoria Park management claimed all the soccer fields were either “closed for maintenance” or fully booked by residents on June 4.

Hong Kong churches will not hold services to commemorate Tiananmen Square for the first time in 33 years, the UK Guardian reported Monday. 

“We find it very difficult under the current social atmosphere. Our bottom line is that we don’t want to breach any law in Hong Kong,” explained Rev. Martin Ip, chaplain of the Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students.