Forwarded from 📡Guardians of Hong Kong
#FirstHand #Jun4
#Hongkongers, #Tibetans and #EastTurkestans Join Assembly Outside of ChineseEmbassy in #London
On June 4, 2022, more than 200 people gather outside the Chinese Embassy in London for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the victims of the #TiananmenMassacre back in 1989.
#IsaacCheng Ka-Long, the former Vice-Chairperson of #Demosisto, and #YauManChun, a former Shatin District Councillor, were the moderated the event. Speakers representing the #UK, #HongKong, #Tibet and #EastTurkestan took turn to speak. The pre-recorded speech of #ZhangXianLing, one of the "#TiananmenMothers", were played after a minute of silence was observed.
Zhang Xianling's son was massacred at Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4 1989. Her son was 19 years old when killed. Zhang sent blessing to Hongkongers. Despite the suppression of demonstration and commemorative events in Hong Kong, Zhang encouraged the people of Hong Kong not to give up.
#BenedictRoger, the founder of #HongKongWatch, brought a yellow umbrella to the event, saying the umbrella were only used in rainy weather but it also symbolised the sovereignty and the power of the people who suffer suppression. He hopes people would see the UK as a shelter.
#LeeWingTat, a former legislator from Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, also gave a speech, urging people not to give up. Under the National Security Law (#NSL) and other regulations, he foresaw the arrival of more and more Hong Kong immigrants to the UK. He encouraged those who arrived early to help others to settle and hoped to spread the situation in Hong Kong to the world.
#TserinPassang, a British-born Tibetan talked about how his parents went in exiled due to the high-pressure suppression in Tibel such as re-education camps and forced labour. He said that over hundred Tibetans conducted self-immolation to express their discontent, but the suppression by Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) regime does not cease. He expressed his will to go to his homeland hopefully in a not so distant future.
After that, a representative from East Turkestan spoke on the genocid and the need to raise people's awareness on all humanitarian crises.
Although it is no longer possible to continue the tradition of holding an annual candlelight vigil at Hong Kong's #VictoriaPark, the commemorarive event is carried out overseas and is joined by not just Hongkongers.
The assembly in London ended with three songs: "The Flower of Freedom" (自由花), "The Internationale", and "Glory to Hong Kong". The participants chanted pro-democracy slogans to voice their demands outside the Chinese Embassy.
#Remembrance #Solidarity #Overseas #Resistance #Diaspora #Hongkongers
#Hongkongers, #Tibetans and #EastTurkestans Join Assembly Outside of ChineseEmbassy in #London
On June 4, 2022, more than 200 people gather outside the Chinese Embassy in London for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the victims of the #TiananmenMassacre back in 1989.
#IsaacCheng Ka-Long, the former Vice-Chairperson of #Demosisto, and #YauManChun, a former Shatin District Councillor, were the moderated the event. Speakers representing the #UK, #HongKong, #Tibet and #EastTurkestan took turn to speak. The pre-recorded speech of #ZhangXianLing, one of the "#TiananmenMothers", were played after a minute of silence was observed.
Zhang Xianling's son was massacred at Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4 1989. Her son was 19 years old when killed. Zhang sent blessing to Hongkongers. Despite the suppression of demonstration and commemorative events in Hong Kong, Zhang encouraged the people of Hong Kong not to give up.
#BenedictRoger, the founder of #HongKongWatch, brought a yellow umbrella to the event, saying the umbrella were only used in rainy weather but it also symbolised the sovereignty and the power of the people who suffer suppression. He hopes people would see the UK as a shelter.
#LeeWingTat, a former legislator from Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, also gave a speech, urging people not to give up. Under the National Security Law (#NSL) and other regulations, he foresaw the arrival of more and more Hong Kong immigrants to the UK. He encouraged those who arrived early to help others to settle and hoped to spread the situation in Hong Kong to the world.
#TserinPassang, a British-born Tibetan talked about how his parents went in exiled due to the high-pressure suppression in Tibel such as re-education camps and forced labour. He said that over hundred Tibetans conducted self-immolation to express their discontent, but the suppression by Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) regime does not cease. He expressed his will to go to his homeland hopefully in a not so distant future.
After that, a representative from East Turkestan spoke on the genocid and the need to raise people's awareness on all humanitarian crises.
Although it is no longer possible to continue the tradition of holding an annual candlelight vigil at Hong Kong's #VictoriaPark, the commemorarive event is carried out overseas and is joined by not just Hongkongers.
The assembly in London ended with three songs: "The Flower of Freedom" (自由花), "The Internationale", and "Glory to Hong Kong". The participants chanted pro-democracy slogans to voice their demands outside the Chinese Embassy.
#Remembrance #Solidarity #Overseas #Resistance #Diaspora #Hongkongers
Forwarded from 📡Guardians of Hong Kong
As Hong Kong clamps down, ‘burden of remembering’ #TiananmenMassacre shifts overseas
// In the decades since the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing on June 4, 1989, one of the most indelible images associated with the event, alongside “Tank Man” and the Goddess of Democracy statue, has been a sea of candles, lighting up the night.
Every year, tens of thousands gathered in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to commemorate the dead and echo their calls for democracy in China.
No more. The 30th anniversary of the massacre in 2019 was the last time it was marked by a mass gathering in Hong Kong. Memorials since then have been banned on coronavirus grounds, as is the case this year, with public gatherings still limited to four people...
“With the last symbol of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech in Hong Kong being taken away it is crucial for Hong Kongers and all persons of conscience around the world to pick up the torch and make sure that the flame of freedom and democracy remain burning,” said Mabel Tung, chair of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (#VSSDM), a group founded by Chinese Canadians in support of the 1989 protests.
...Amnesty International said it is arranging events in more than 20 cities this year, and will call on participants not only to remember those killed in Beijing, but also “stand in solidarity with those in Hong Kong whose peaceful acts of commemoration are now criminalized.”
In Asia, one of the largest memorials will be in Taipei, where organizers plan to unveil a replica of the “Pillar of Shame,” a statue commemorating the Tiananmen victims that was forcibly removed from Hong Kong last year...//
Source: Globe and Mail #June3
Read the full article:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-as-hong-kong-clamps-down-burden-of-remembering-tiananmen-massacre/
#Remembrance #Solidarity #Overseas #Resistance #Diaspora #Hongkongers
// In the decades since the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing on June 4, 1989, one of the most indelible images associated with the event, alongside “Tank Man” and the Goddess of Democracy statue, has been a sea of candles, lighting up the night.
Every year, tens of thousands gathered in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to commemorate the dead and echo their calls for democracy in China.
No more. The 30th anniversary of the massacre in 2019 was the last time it was marked by a mass gathering in Hong Kong. Memorials since then have been banned on coronavirus grounds, as is the case this year, with public gatherings still limited to four people...
“With the last symbol of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech in Hong Kong being taken away it is crucial for Hong Kongers and all persons of conscience around the world to pick up the torch and make sure that the flame of freedom and democracy remain burning,” said Mabel Tung, chair of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement (#VSSDM), a group founded by Chinese Canadians in support of the 1989 protests.
...Amnesty International said it is arranging events in more than 20 cities this year, and will call on participants not only to remember those killed in Beijing, but also “stand in solidarity with those in Hong Kong whose peaceful acts of commemoration are now criminalized.”
In Asia, one of the largest memorials will be in Taipei, where organizers plan to unveil a replica of the “Pillar of Shame,” a statue commemorating the Tiananmen victims that was forcibly removed from Hong Kong last year...//
Source: Globe and Mail #June3
Read the full article:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-as-hong-kong-clamps-down-burden-of-remembering-tiananmen-massacre/
#Remembrance #Solidarity #Overseas #Resistance #Diaspora #Hongkongers
The Globe and Mail
As Hong Kong clamps down, ‘burden of remembering’ Tiananmen Massacre shifts overseas
The anniversary will be commemorated by smaller events around the world, as Chinese authorities threaten to prosecute those who attend public gatherings under their jurisdiction