People attend a candlelight vigil ahead of the 31st anniversary of the crackdown of pro-democracy protests at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, after police rejects a mass annual vigil on public health grounds, in Hong Kong, China June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Reuters: Candles to light up Hong Kong on fraught Tiananmen anniversary
HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Many people in Hong Kong plan to commemorate the bloody 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Tiananmen Square by lighting candles across the city on Thursday, circumventing a ban on the usual public gathering amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The anniversary strikes an especially sensitive nerve in the semi-autonomous city this year after Beijing’s move last month to impose national security legislation in Hong Kong, which critics fear will crush freedoms in the financial hub.
It also comes as Chinese media and some Beijing officials have voiced support for protests against police brutality across the United States. The Tiananmen crackdown is not officially commemorated in mainland China, where the topic is taboo and any discussion heavily censored.
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