1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre

Hong Kong Vigil demands an “end to one-party dictatorship.” 

By David Tweed
Demonstrators attend a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4

For 28 years, tens of thousands of Hong Kong democracy advocates have marked the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown by rallying for political change in China. 

This year, they face new risk in doing so.
At issue are a series of slogans chanted during a mass candlelight vigil in Victoria Park, specifically one demanding an “end to one-party dictatorship.” 

That act of defiance has come under new scrutiny after the former top Chinese official in Hong Kong suggested that those who utter the phrase should be barred from running for office.
While government officials haven’t endorsed the view, pro-democracy lawmakers worry that such remarks could represent the latest Communist Party effort to curb free expression in the former British colony. 

In 2016, the Chinese government banned independence activists from public office and local officials earlier this year barred a legislative candidate from running because she supported “self-determination.”
“When you look around, the political space in Hong Kong is much tighter than it was even three or four years ago,” said Chris Ng, a convener of the Progressive Lawyers Group, which seeks to preserve Hong Kong’s rule of law. 

“Beijing’s incursions on Hong Kong’s freedoms might not look like much on their own, but when you put them all together they are going to be fatal.”

Curbing Dissent
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment Monday.
The June 4 vigil -- commemorating the military crackdown on student protesters in Beijing in 1989 -- stands as an annual reminder of China’s pledge to preserve colonial-era freedoms and institutions in Hong Kong. 

Last year, more than 100,000 people gathered on a sweltering evening to hear speeches, sing protest songs and view images of the Tiananmen Square bloodshed.
In recent weeks, some pro-Beijing officials have suggested the arguments used to bar “separatists” from public office could extend to those who advocate an end to one-party rule in China. 

The idea -- proposed in March by the city’s sole representative to the national legislature’s -- has been endorsed by Wang Guangya, the former top official for Hong Kong affairs. 

Such moves could threaten even sitting lawmakers, since China’s National People’s Congress stepped in 2016 to apply strict new standards for officials’ oaths retroactively.
Public discussion of the Tiananmen incident is banned on the mainland and Xi Jinping has tightened controls on dissent since taking power in 2012, jailing scores of activists and lawyers. 

Xi has shown less patience for Hong Kong’s activists, as well, warning during a July visit that challenges to the party’s rule won’t be tolerated.
China’s approach has undermined faith in the “one country, two systems” framework government officials and businesses credit with maintaining Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center. 

A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong released Wednesday found that just more than half of 230 members who responded believed there had been some erosion in the model.
A U.S. State Department report also released last week said that Xi’s statements and other officials had “diluted” the “high degree of autonomy” outlined in the city’s charter.

“As China becomes more repressive politically, it will only get worse,” said Sonny Lo, a professor of political science at the HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. 

Things are “drifting toward ‘one country, one system’ in the minds of both Beijing officials and Hong Kong authorities,” Lo said.
Beijing loyalists argue moves to rein in Hong Kong’s most radical activists were necessary after dozens of police were injured in a riot involving independence activists in 2016. 

The democratic opposition has also frustrated China’s efforts to integrate the city by using protests and parliamentary maneuvering to block proposals.
Still, the city’s democratic lawmakers were expected to defy the call. 

A survey by the local Ming Pao newspaper found 23 out of 24 opposition lawmakers who participated planned to attend the vigil and join the chants, with the 25th objecting to the event on the grounds that Hong Kong residents should focus on local issues.
Albert Ho, a former lawmaker and chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, the vigil organizer, predicted that Beijing wouldn’t enforce the ban because doing so risked contradicting its own claims to “multiparty cooperation.” 

There also would be a cost to China’s international reputation, Ho said.
“Once you pass a law seeking to punish anyone for criticizing the Communist Party, then it would be a fundamental change in policy,” he said. 

“I won’t say they won’t do it, but the price would be very high.”