![June32009candlevigilHK pic7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/June32009candlevigilHK_pic7.jpg)
In the days following the end of the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
, several memorials and vigils were held around the world for those who were killed in the demonstrations. Since then, annual memorials have been held in places outside of
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, most notably in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States.
The 31st anniversary commemoration took place only a few short months after the
anti-government protests had subsided. Although the Hong Kong vigil was banned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many chose to ignore the ban. In the following months, 24 leading pro-democratic activists were arrested for unlawful assembly. Although there had not been any cases of local transmission of Covid-19, and although Art Basel was allowed to take place, the 32nd anniversary commemoration in Victoria Park was similarly banned due to pandemic restrictions. However, as the government seems increasingly willing to use tough measures against any form of civil protest, a massive police presence was preemptively mobilised in 2021.
Hong Kong
Vindicate 4 June and Relay the Torch is an annual activity mourning the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre organized by
in
Hong Kong Victoria Park.
Memorials before the handover
In 1990, on the first anniversary of the massacre, Reuters quoted an estimate of 15,000 people who took part in the demonstration. Organizers from the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Democracy in China (also known as
) provided an estimate of 30,000. Attendees chanted "Long live democracy" and "Rescue those who live".
Tensions were high in 1996, which marked the seventh anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre.
[Mickleburgh, Rod (5 June 1996). "Hong Kong Remembers Massacre". ''The Globe and Mail'' (Pg. A.1).] Residents were not sure whether or not the annual demonstration would continue after the upcoming 1997 sovereignty handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
Many Hong Kong natives feared they would lose the legal right to demonstrate after the handover, which made it so that the annual demonstration's fate was in potential jeopardy.
One demonstrator,
Yeung Sum
Yeung Sum (; born 22 November 1947 in Guangzhou) is a Hong Kong politician and academic. He served several terms as a Legislative Councillor and was the second chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), a pro-democracy political party in Hong ...
, voiced his support for continued demonstrations as he shouted out "this kind of demonstration must be publicly held after 1997".
According to the ''Globe and Mail'', more than 20,000 attended.
In the park there was a cenotaph, which was a replica of Heroes' Monument (also known as the
Monument to the People's Heroes
The Monument to the People's Heroes () is a ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of China to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is located in the southern part of Tiananmen Square in ...
) in Tiananmen Square, and near this monument stood a reproduction of the highly symbolic
Goddess of Democracy
The ''Goddess of Democracy'', also known as the ''Goddess of Democracy and Freedom'', the ''Spirit of Democracy'', and the ''Goddess of Liberty'' (; ''zìyóu nǚshén''), was a statue created during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The sta ...
.
People in the park sang "Do you hear the people sing? / Singing the song of angry men? / It is the music of a people".
Attendees "carried large funeral wreaths" to the base of the replicated Heroes' Monument.
When the floodlights dimmed, people passed several minutes of silence by raising thousands of candles.
The eighth anniversary, in 1997, was just before the handover (also known as the
Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong
Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admini ...
). People in the demonstration speculated that it might turn out to be the last vigil.
Organizers estimated a total of 55,000 people, which was a record breaking number up to this point.
According to the ''Associated Press'' the "demonstrators cut across many divisions" and included groups of people such as youth, business professionals, senior citizens, and workers.
City Hall approved the demonstration, as well as a "controversial three-story high sculpture".
This piece was called "The
Pillar of Shame
''Pillar of Shame'' is a series of sculptures by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt memorialising the loss of life during specific events or caused by specific circumstances in history. Each sculpture is an tall statue of bronze, copper or concrete ...
" and was lit up during the night.
It portrayed "twisted bodies with agonized faces".
"The Pillar of Shame" was "controversial" partially because City Hall refused to allow the sculpture to be shown in public during the
Hong Kong handover ceremony
The handover ceremony of Hong Kong in 1997 officially marked the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the People's Republic of China. It was an internationally televised event w ...
.
Memorials after the handover
The ninth anniversary, in 1998, was significant because – according to ''The Guardian'' – they were the "first protestors permitted to mourn the trauma of Tiananmen on Chinese soil".
[Higgins, Andrew (5 June 1998). "Hong Kong Punctures Tiananmen Amnesia". ''The Guardian'' (The Guardian Foreign Page; Pg. 16).] This memorial service was also centred on the "controversial
Pillar of Shame
''Pillar of Shame'' is a series of sculptures by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt memorialising the loss of life during specific events or caused by specific circumstances in history. Each sculpture is an tall statue of bronze, copper or concrete ...
".
Demonstrators hung "large black banners" that read "reverse the verdict on June 4", while other banners swore to "fight to the end" and to "never forget June 4".
Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng (; born 20 May 1950) is a Chinese human rights activist and dissident. He is best known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement. He is most prominent for having authored the essay "The Fifth Modernization", which wa ...
"sent a pre-recorded video message" that was broadcast through loud speakers and
Wang Dan "spoke live from New York".
The tenth anniversary, in 1999, also featured the controversial "
Pillar of Shame
''Pillar of Shame'' is a series of sculptures by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt memorialising the loss of life during specific events or caused by specific circumstances in history. Each sculpture is an tall statue of bronze, copper or concrete ...
" and according to the ''South China Morning Post'', the sculpture included a column that read "the spirit of democracy martyrs will live forever".
[Yeung, Chris; Lai-fan, Kong (5 June 1999). "Tiananmen Light Undimmed". ''South China Morning Post'' (Pg. 1).] Similar to demonstrations in earlier years, the participants also sang "pro-democracy" songs and "chanted slogans".
''The South China Morning Post'' reported that
Wang Dan's mother, Wang Lingyun, "spoke to the crowd from a mobile phone after her line at home was cut off at 5 pm".
From San Francisco,
Wang Dan also spoke to the crowd.
During the fifteenth anniversary, in 2004, activists handed out leaflets, which encouraged mainland tourists to go to the vigil.
Organizers reported that 82,000 people attended, which was up from last year's count of 50,000.
The twentieth anniversary, in 2009, had about 150,000 attendees, according to organizers.
[Cheng, Jonathan (5 June 2009). "Leading the News: Hong Kong Vigil Remembers Tiananmen – On 20th Anniversary Quiet and Tension Prevail in Beijing". ''The Wall Street Journal Asia'' (Pg. 2).][Cheng, Jonathan (5 June 2009). "World News: Hong Kong Commemorates Tiananmen Square with Public Vigil". ''The Wall Street Journal'' (Pg. A.5).] This was the largest turnout since the first vigil nineteen years earlier, according to organizers.
Police, however, recorded the number of attendees to only be about 62,800.
As the attendees were holding candles and playing traditional Chinese instruments, demonstrators chanted "Vindicate the student movement of 1989!".
China's Ministry of Public Security issued a "written statement" about "security measures" taken prior to the beginning of the anniversary.
Since the rise of
localism in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, localism is a political movement centered on the preservation of the city's autonomy and local culture. The Hong Kong localist movement encompasses a variety of groups with different goals, but all of them oppose the perceived grow ...
and the 2014
Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...
in particular, turnout for Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong has been steadily declining. Some student groups explicitly boycotting them, asserting that the
Hong Kong Autonomy Movement
Hong Kong Autonomy Movement (), sometimes Hong Kong City State Autonomous Movement (), is a movement formed in Hong Kong amidst the raising awareness about Hong Kong's constitutional rights of high autonomy, free from interference of PRC govern ...
and the
Chinese democracy movement
Democracy movements of China are a series of organized political movements, inside and outside of China, addressing a variety of grievances, including objections to socialist bureaucratism and objections to the continuation of the one-party ru ...
are, or should be, separate concerns.
2020 and beyond
The
31st anniversary commemoration took place only a few short months after the
anti-government protests had subsided. Although the commemorations had been banned in Hong Kong due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, many people still chose to ignore the ban and attended the public vigil in Victoria Park.
[ In the months that followed, the political climate grew even more hostile under Carrie Lam following the passage of the national security legislation by the NPC, and 24 activists were arrested as organisers of the vigil.][
On 28 April 2021, a government spokesperson announced that the 32nd anniversary commemoration in Victoria Park would again be banned due to pandemic restrictions] despite there having been no locally transmitted cases over the previous six weeks. The government showed its determination to stop any memorial from taking place when the Security Bureau warned on 29 May that the penalty for attending an unlawful assembly was five years in prison under the Public Order Ordinance, or one year for promoting it.[
Although the Alliance decided to abide by the government ban, urging the public to commemorate in a lawful and safe manner,] the government preemptively mobilised 7,000 police officers – one fifth of its strength – for deployment across Hong Kong on 4 June.[ Victoria Park alone would be guarded by 3,000 officers, and most of the park was declared off-llimits.] Victoria Park lay empty for the first time in 32 years.
Mainland China
Police are kept on alert during many of the anniversaries in order to guard against public displays of mourning. According to ''The Washington Post'', Beijing "banned any mourning by groups not specifically authorized". Similarly, during the third anniversary there was a sign in the centre of the Square that "warned visitors not to lay mourning wreaths", unless the government had given the visitor consent at least five days in advance.
Several people have been arrested, or at least taken away for questioning, for attempting to mourn the victims publicly. One man was questioned for wearing a button that had the V-for-Victory sign and the word "Victory" on it in 1990. According to the ''New York Times'', another man, in 1992, named Wang Wanxin "was dragged away after he tried to unfurl a banner calling on Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
..to apologize for the 1989 army crackdown". Some other modes of commemoration included 50 dissidents staging a 24-hour hunger strike in 2000 and private memorial services in people's houses. In 1999, Su Bingxian lit a candle for her son who was killed in the massacre, while others lit ten symbolic candles.
Taiwan
On 4 June 2016, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, formally known as the Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
(ROC) held the nation's first ever commemoration in parliament of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown as lawmakers urged the new government to address human rights issues in its dealing with mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. It comes weeks after China-sceptic Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
was sworn in as president, succeeding Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...
who oversaw an unprecedented eight-year rapprochement with Beijing.
In the past, the ROC government has repeatedly urged the PRC to learn lessons from the Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, in which more than 1,000 were killed according to some estimates. A day ahead of the 4 June anniversary, senior lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
(DPP) and the pro-Cross-Strait
Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China).
The relationship ...
relations Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) were joined by human rights activists and exiled Chinese dissident Wu'er Kaixi
Örkesh Dölet ( ug, ئۆركەش دۆلەت, zh, 吾尔开希·多莱特; commonly known by his pinyin name Wu'erkaixi) is a political commentator known for his leading role during the Tiananmen protests of 1989.
Of Uyghur heritage, he was bo ...
as they observed a minute's silence. They also signed a motion proposed by DPP lawmaker Yu Mei-nu to demand the government "express Taiwan's serious concerns over redressing the June 4 incident at the appropriate time" in future interactions between the two sides.[
]
United States
In the United States, the first memorial was organized on the 100th day of 4 June 1989 by the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars
The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) was founded on August 1, 1989, when over 1000 Chinese student representatives from more than 200 Chinese Students and Scholars Association in major U.S. universities held their ...
, and the second memorial service was organized also by the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars
The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) was founded on August 1, 1989, when over 1000 Chinese student representatives from more than 200 Chinese Students and Scholars Association in major U.S. universities held their ...
in the Capitol Hill. Since then, Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars
The Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) was founded on August 1, 1989, when over 1000 Chinese student representatives from more than 200 Chinese Students and Scholars Association in major U.S. universities held their ...
has been organized annual memorial services in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC.
In San Francisco, for the fifth anniversary, the city erected a 9.5 foot (3 m) bronze statue that was modeled after the original Goddess of Democracy
The ''Goddess of Democracy'', also known as the ''Goddess of Democracy and Freedom'', the ''Spirit of Democracy'', and the ''Goddess of Liberty'' (; ''zìyóu nǚshén''), was a statue created during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The sta ...
. It is located in the edges of Chinatown, on a small park. Fang Lizhi
Fang Lizhi (also Li-Zhi; February 12, 1936 – April 6, 2012) was a Chinese astrophysicist, vice-president of the University of Science and Technology of China, and activist whose liberal ideas inspired the pro-democracy student movement ...
and Nick Er Liang were at the unveiling. The designer, Thomas Marsh, used photographs of the original Goddess of Democracy
The ''Goddess of Democracy'', also known as the ''Goddess of Democracy and Freedom'', the ''Spirit of Democracy'', and the ''Goddess of Liberty'' (; ''zìyóu nǚshén''), was a statue created during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The sta ...
as a model for his statue. Two Chinese students of his formed the torch, and another formed the face.
Poland
A Tiananmen memorial was built during Solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
pro democracy demonstrations in 1989 in the Polish city of Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
, Lower Silesia. The memorial was destroyed by the Polish authorities, but has been rebuilt since the end of single party communism in Poland.
Online memorials
There are many online memorials. For example, the organizers of the annual candlelight vigil, the , have a website where people can sign the "Condolence Book for the victims of Tiananmen".["Sign the Condolence Book for the Victims of Tiananmen". Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China. n.p., 2013. Web. 11 April 2014. ] The book is then "burnt in front of the statue of democracy at the June 4 Candlelight vigil". In mid-2020 the U.S.-based Visual Artists Guild announced it was streaming its annual commemoration online on 31 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
References
External links
Official website of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memorials For The Tiananmen Square Protests Of 1989
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
Memorials to victims of communism
History of Hong Kong
Political protests in Hong Kong