Hong Kong police on Sunday arrested a figure in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, Alexandra Wong, along with five others, on the 34th anniversary of Tiananmen. Alexandra Wong, better known as "Granny Wong," was carrying a bouquet of flowers at the time of her arrest in the central Causeway Bay neighborhood, where candlelight vigils have long been held in memory of the Tiananmen victims.
The police first surrounded her. Before being loaded into a police van, Alexandra Wong then brandished her bouquet of flowers in the air and followed the police officers without resisting. At least five other people were arrested Sunday in the bustling Causeway Bay neighborhood.
One woman was arrested after shouting "Raise candles! Cry 4/6!", referring to June 4, 1989, the date of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing.
" READ ALSO Hong Kong: at least four arrests on the eve of the 34th anniversary of Tiananmen
A young man dressed in black was carrying the book "May 35" at the time of his arrest, another way of referring to the Tiananmen events that took place four days after May 31.
Hong Kong, returned to China by the UK in 1997, has long been the only Chinese city to commemorate the victims of Tiananmen. It was a key indicator of the freedoms and political pluralism conferred on it by its status as a semi-autonomous territory. Since 1990, tens of thousands of people have gathered annually in Hong Kong's Victoria Park for a candlelight vigil in memory of the Tiananmen victims in Beijing. But in 2020 Beijing imposed a national security law in the former British colony to muzzle any dissent after the gigantic pro-democracy protests of 2019.
Hong Kong authorities have since ended vigils that were never allowed in mainland China. As the anniversary approached, authorities repeatedly refused to confirm whether public commemorations were illegal. The city's chief executive, John Lee, warned only that every Hong Kong resident must abide by the law and stand "ready to face the consequences" if it is violated.