Hong Kong police have detained several pro-democracy figures including the well-known activist Alexandra Wong for trying to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in China. For years, Hongkongers held candlelight vigils in Victoria Park on the anniversary, but since Beijing’s imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 to quell dissent, the vigils have been banned The Guardian
Tag: Hong Kong
Hong Kong police arrest pro-democracy figures on Tiananmen Square anniversary
Hong Kong police have detained several pro-democracy figures attempting to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in China. For years, Hongkongers would converge on the city’s Victoria Park and its surrounding neighbourhood to commemorate the events of 4 June 1989, taking part in candlelight vigils. But since Beijing’s imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 to quell dissent, the annual vigil has been banned and the organisers were charged under the law. This weekend, scores of police were deployed in the area,…
Hong Kong Remembered June 4 Tiananmen Massacre, Until It Couldn’t
For decades, Hong Kong was the only place in China where the victims of the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy activists at Tiananmen Square in Beijing could be publicly mourned in a candlelight vigil. This year, Hong Kong is notable for all the ways it is being made to forget the 1989 massacre. In the days preceding the June 4 anniversary on Sunday, even small shops that displayed items alluding to the crackdown were closely monitored, receiving multiple visits from the police. Over the weekend, thousands of officers patrolled the…
Hong Kong police detain eight people on eve of Tiananmen anniversary
Hong Kong police detained eight people, including activists and artists, on the eve of the 34th anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown, a move that signals the city’s shrinking freedom of expression. Police said in a statement late on Saturday that four people had been arrested for allegedly disrupting order in public spaces or carrying out acts with seditious intent. Four others were taken away for investigation on suspicion of breaching public peace. Authorities did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment late on Saturday. The bloody 1989 clampdown…
Investors Sour on China’s Stocks, Renewing Fears About Economy
The wager was supposed to be a no-brainer. China was reopening after nearly three years of pandemic lockdowns, and investors expected that its economy, the world’s second-largest, would come roaring back to life. Chinese stocks soared. But that bet has soured. This week, Chinese stocks that are traded in Hong Kong sank briefly into a bear market, after losing more than 20 percent of their value from a high in January. Stocks on the mainland are also in the red for the year. The declines reflect a fizzling optimism in…
UN experts express ‘grave concern’ over detention of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong
A group of UN experts have expressed “grave concern” over the arrest and detention of Jimmy Lai, a former media mogul in Hong Kong who has been charged with violating the territory’s national security law. In a joint communication sent to the Chinese government, the experts from the UN working group on arbitrary detention and several special rapporteurs focused on human rights said Lai’s arrest and multiple prosecutions related to “his criticism of the Chinese government and his support for democracy in Hong Kong”. The involvement of such a large…
Hong Kong court rebuffs effort to dismiss Jimmy Lai national security trial
Hong Kong’s high court has rejected an attempt by lawyers acting for the jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai to have his national security trial dismissed. The court ruled on Monday that the argument the trial may appear to be biased had “no merits”, and gave the proceedings, which are scheduled to start in September, the green light. The legal team for Lai, a former media mogul who was arrested during Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2020, had argued that the fact his trial would be presided over by judges…
The Mystery of the Disappearing van Gogh
The bidding for Lot 17 started at $23 million. In the packed room at Sotheby’s in Manhattan, the price quickly climbed: $32 million, $42 million, $48 million. Then a new prospective buyer, calling from China, made it a contest between just two people. On the block that evening in November 2014 were works by Impressionist painters and Modernist sculptors that would make the auction the most successful yet in the firm’s history. But one painting drew particular attention: “Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies,” completed by Vincent van Gogh weeks…
Cathay Pacific Struggles With Aftermath of Covid, and China Crackdown
Few major airlines in the world were hit by the Covid pandemic as hard as Cathay Pacific, the flagship carrier of Hong Kong, or have labored so mightily to recover from it. Its business was decimated by some of the industry’s most expansive flight bans and quarantine requirements. And the pandemic wasn’t the start of Cathay’s troubles. In 2019, when Hong Kong was convulsed by pro-democracy protests, Cathay Pacific was caught in the crossfire with Beijing. Flights were canceled or delayed by airport sit-ins involving thousands of demonstrators, among them…
Hong Kong: 13 go on trial over 2019 storming of legislature by pro-democracy protesters
A Hong Kong court has began the trial of 13 people over the storming and ransacking of the city’s legislature in 2019, which was an unprecedented challenge to the Beijing-backed government. It was the most violent episode in the initial phase of the huge pro-democracy protests that shook Hong Kong that year, with millions marching and staging sit-ins for weeks. Hundreds of protesters broke into the legislature on the night of 1 July 2019 – the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China – smashing windows and…