Beijing’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong has expressed “strong opposition” to what it saw as “political theatrics” from foreign consulates on the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
Consulates representing the US, UK and the European Union put on “shoddy political theatrics” at their offices in an attempt to “create division, incite conflicts and maliciously vilify the image of China,” the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong said in a statement on Tuesday night.
Tuesday marked 35 years since the Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, which put an end to months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army dispersed protesters in Beijing.
The US consulate and EU office in Hong Kong displayed commemorative candles in their windows on Tuesday, while the British consulate in Hong Kong posted an image of a mobile phone held aloft with its torch on and “VIIV,” apparently referring to “6/4,” or the date of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, using Roman numerals.
Britain’s embassy in China also shared a social media post featuring a Chinese newspaper from 1989 reporting on the crackdown.
On Tuesday evening, diplomats were seen walking outside Victoria Park, where the city’s annual commemorative vigils used to be held, followed by throngs of press. The park and the nearby shopping district of Causeway Bay saw an extensive police presence that day, with officers stationed at nearly very corner.
In response to the moves from the consulates, Beijing’s foreign ministry in Hong Kong said some external forces were “going against the tide” to “intentionally stir up events that had been settled.” The office called on the consulates to immediately stop “Anti-China political manipulation” and refrain from interfering with Hong Kong’s affairs.
“Certain foreign officials in Hong Kong disregarded the basic code of conduct and behavioural guidelines of diplomatic officials and orchestrated political dramas… they played the old tricks of ideological infiltration and peaceful subversion,” a Chinese statement from the foreign ministry office read.
It was not the first time Beijing has blasted consulates’ actions to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. In 2021, the move was cited by Beijing as “evidence” of foreign interference in a 6,300-word “factsheet.”
Hong Kong used to be one of the few places on Chinese soil where annual vigils were held to commemorate the victims who died in the 1989 crackdown. But police banned the gathering at Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park for the first time in 2020 citing Covid-19 restrictions, and imposed the same ban in the following year.
No official commemoration has been held since the vigil organiser – Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – disbanded in September 2021.
Tuesday was also the first time for Hong Kong to mark the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary after the city passed a domestic security law required under Article 23 of the Basic Law. A 68-year-old woman was arrested under this law for alleged sedition after she was said to have chanted slogans in Causeway Bay on Tuesday afternoon.
Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of to up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city’s opposition-free legislature.
The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and “regressive.” Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to “close loopholes” after the 2019 protests and unrest.
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