Hong Kong to remember Tiananmen crackdown

Hong Kongers today planned to remember the anniversary of the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing 18 years ago at a candlelight vigil in the former British colony.

Hong Kong is the only place in China where such a large public commemoration is traditionally held.

The day began quietly on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, where tourists gathered to watch a daily flag-raising ceremony amid tight security.

There were no immediate reports of demonstrations on the mainland.

Security forces try to quickly disperse Tiananmen memorials on the mainland.

But Hong Kongers are allowed to publicly mark the anniversary because the former British colony has been promised a wide degree of autonomy since its 1997 handover to China.

Thousands of people usually gather for Hong Kong’s Tiananmen memorial, lighting candles and singing solemn songs in the large Victoria Park.

Many residents of the city had supported the Tiananmen protesters, thinking they might help bring political reform to China.

Hong Kongers were horrified when troops and tanks crushed the demonstration, killing hundreds of people.

The violence raised fears that the Communist leadership would not honour its promise to allow Hong Kong the civil liberties its people enjoyed under British rule.

But 10 years after the handover, Hong Kong still enjoys freedoms that people on the mainland can only dream about.

Street protests are common and the press frequently criticises the government, though media watchdogs say self-censorship is common.

China’s government has called the Tiananmen protest a counterrevolutionary riot and has yet to fully disclose what happened.

Human Rights Watch said Beijing’s failure to account for the crackdown casts a pall on its campaign to project a new image for the nation that is preparing to host the 2008 Olympic Games in 14 months.

The New York-based group also said in a statement that survivors and victims’ families have been subjected to intrusive scrutiny by security officials in the run-up to the anniversary.