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April 19th, 2024 | 11:41 AM ET

Hong Kong and the Memory of Tiananmen Square

Posted: June 3rd, 2016

A People’s Liberation Army Type 59 tank weighs 36 tons, but on June 4th, 1989 a man stopped one in its tracks. This Saturday marks the 27th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square democracy protests in China, and while the annual vigil in Hong Kong is likely to draw thousands, turn out may be affected by a lack of support from one of the vigil’s earliest and, until this year, staunchest participants.

Hong Kong is the only Chinese territory where citizens can gather and remember the Tiananmen protests, but the Federation of Students has chosen not to support the vigil this year for the first time. This pro-democracy group of student unions has instead decided that remembering the June 4th protests does not support their vision of an independent and democratic Hong Kong.

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