This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/world/asia/crowds-gather-in-hong-kong-to-mark-25th-anniversary-of-tiananmen-killings.html
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong Marks 25th Anniversary of Tiananmen Killings | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| HONG KONG — Throngs began gathering late Wednesday afternoon at a downtown Hong Kong park fringed by skyscrapers to mark and to mourn the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. But in Beijing and elsewhere in mainland China, a stifling security presence on the streets and online appeared to forestall protests. | HONG KONG — Throngs began gathering late Wednesday afternoon at a downtown Hong Kong park fringed by skyscrapers to mark and to mourn the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. But in Beijing and elsewhere in mainland China, a stifling security presence on the streets and online appeared to forestall protests. |
| The Chinese police have detained and in some cases prosecuted scores of human rights activists in recent weeks. Online censors have stepped up their already extensive blocking or deleting of websites and postings that contradict the Communist Party’s effort to erase the public’s memory of the bloodshed in 1989. | The Chinese police have detained and in some cases prosecuted scores of human rights activists in recent weeks. Online censors have stepped up their already extensive blocking or deleting of websites and postings that contradict the Communist Party’s effort to erase the public’s memory of the bloodshed in 1989. |
| State-controlled Chinese media organizations completely ignored the anniversary, even as foreign media gave it global attention. In Washington, the White House said in a statement, “Twenty-five years later, the United States continues to honor the memories of those who gave their lives in and around Tiananmen Square and throughout China, and we call on Chinese authorities to account for those killed, detained, or missing in connection with the events surrounding June 4, 1989.” | State-controlled Chinese media organizations completely ignored the anniversary, even as foreign media gave it global attention. In Washington, the White House said in a statement, “Twenty-five years later, the United States continues to honor the memories of those who gave their lives in and around Tiananmen Square and throughout China, and we call on Chinese authorities to account for those killed, detained, or missing in connection with the events surrounding June 4, 1989.” |
| Average economic output per person, adjusted for inflation, has soared nearly 20-fold in China since the Tiananmen killings, turning the country into the world’s largest market for everything from cars to flat-panel televisions. But the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo remains in prison for seeking greater political freedom, while the state has developed an enormously sophisticated and far-flung surveillance system using everything from face-recognition computer technology to extensive tracking of cellphone locations. | Average economic output per person, adjusted for inflation, has soared nearly 20-fold in China since the Tiananmen killings, turning the country into the world’s largest market for everything from cars to flat-panel televisions. But the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo remains in prison for seeking greater political freedom, while the state has developed an enormously sophisticated and far-flung surveillance system using everything from face-recognition computer technology to extensive tracking of cellphone locations. |
| “China’s economy has developed rapidly, but on the issues of democracy and personal freedom, its record is very, very, very bad,” said Kwok Yin-cheong, a 40-year-old graphic designer who attends the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong every year and was among the first to arrive on Wednesday afternoon. | “China’s economy has developed rapidly, but on the issues of democracy and personal freedom, its record is very, very, very bad,” said Kwok Yin-cheong, a 40-year-old graphic designer who attends the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong every year and was among the first to arrive on Wednesday afternoon. |
| The silence about the anniversary that security agencies imposed in mainland China left Hong Kong as the only city on Chinese soil where the Communist Party has been unable to prevent protests. People poured out of subway exits and nearby shopping districts to pick up white candles and head for a row of six concrete soccer fields in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island to commemorate an event widely seen as a turning point in contemporary Chinese history. | The silence about the anniversary that security agencies imposed in mainland China left Hong Kong as the only city on Chinese soil where the Communist Party has been unable to prevent protests. People poured out of subway exits and nearby shopping districts to pick up white candles and head for a row of six concrete soccer fields in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island to commemorate an event widely seen as a turning point in contemporary Chinese history. |
| The mourners marked the day in 1989 when soldiers in Beijing killed hundreds of students, workers and professionals seeking greater democracy and limits on corruption. But Hong Kong, a possible signpost for what political discourse might look like in a less repressive China, has become deeply divided in the quarter-century since the crackdown, as mainland China has combined rapid economic growth with severe and recently increasing restrictions on civil liberties. | The mourners marked the day in 1989 when soldiers in Beijing killed hundreds of students, workers and professionals seeking greater democracy and limits on corruption. But Hong Kong, a possible signpost for what political discourse might look like in a less repressive China, has become deeply divided in the quarter-century since the crackdown, as mainland China has combined rapid economic growth with severe and recently increasing restrictions on civil liberties. |
| Before Wednesday’s vigil began, pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers predicted that mostly clear skies would help bring out bigger crowds than last year, when torrential downpours depressed the turnout. But they sought to limit expectations for a very large crowd, noting deep divisions that have emerged within their own ranks in recent years. | Before Wednesday’s vigil began, pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers predicted that mostly clear skies would help bring out bigger crowds than last year, when torrential downpours depressed the turnout. But they sought to limit expectations for a very large crowd, noting deep divisions that have emerged within their own ranks in recent years. |
| “What the Communist Party couldn’t do over the last 20-some years, we’ve been able to do on our own — it’s pretty pathetic if you ask me,” said Ronny Tong, a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council from the pro-democracy Civic Party. | “What the Communist Party couldn’t do over the last 20-some years, we’ve been able to do on our own — it’s pretty pathetic if you ask me,” said Ronny Tong, a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council from the pro-democracy Civic Party. |
| The democracy movement in Hong Kong has splintered over how to deal with Beijing’s steadfast refusal to change its official stance on the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and over Beijing’s reluctance to allow greater democracy in Hong Kong itself. The clearest sign of that division was a separate protest being organized on Wednesday evening on the opposite side of the harbor from the Victoria Park candlelight vigil, which has been held every year since 1989. | The democracy movement in Hong Kong has splintered over how to deal with Beijing’s steadfast refusal to change its official stance on the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and over Beijing’s reluctance to allow greater democracy in Hong Kong itself. The clearest sign of that division was a separate protest being organized on Wednesday evening on the opposite side of the harbor from the Victoria Park candlelight vigil, which has been held every year since 1989. |
| The rival event was organized by the Proletariat Political Institute, a group led by Wong Yuk-man, a democracy activist who is also a member of the 70-person Legislative Council, and who contends that the established pro-democracy parties are not sufficiently assertive in challenging Beijing. | The rival event was organized by the Proletariat Political Institute, a group led by Wong Yuk-man, a democracy activist who is also a member of the 70-person Legislative Council, and who contends that the established pro-democracy parties are not sufficiently assertive in challenging Beijing. |
| “The vigil has been held for more than two decades, and the significance of the vigil is diminishing,” Mr. Wong’s group said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “It is now no more than a routine ceremonial event.” | “The vigil has been held for more than two decades, and the significance of the vigil is diminishing,” Mr. Wong’s group said in a statement on Tuesday evening. “It is now no more than a routine ceremonial event.” |
| The Victoria Park vigil suffered another setback when organizers said late Wednesday afternoon that the event’s website had been disabled by malicious hacking. Richard Tsoi, a vice chairman of the vigil’s organizing committee, said that the site had come under periodic attack since the spring and had been completely disabled on Wednesday, adding that “it is a reasonable suspicion that the attack came from the mainland authorities.” | The Victoria Park vigil suffered another setback when organizers said late Wednesday afternoon that the event’s website had been disabled by malicious hacking. Richard Tsoi, a vice chairman of the vigil’s organizing committee, said that the site had come under periodic attack since the spring and had been completely disabled on Wednesday, adding that “it is a reasonable suspicion that the attack came from the mainland authorities.” |
| Interest in the vigil was fanned this year by a continuing political struggle in Hong Kong over whether Beijing will allow universal suffrage in the 2017 election to choose the next chief executive of the somewhat autonomous territory. Hong Kong has maintained its own legal and economic system ever since Britain returned it to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. | Interest in the vigil was fanned this year by a continuing political struggle in Hong Kong over whether Beijing will allow universal suffrage in the 2017 election to choose the next chief executive of the somewhat autonomous territory. Hong Kong has maintained its own legal and economic system ever since Britain returned it to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. |
| Just 1,200 members of an electoral committee are currently allowed to choose the chief executive, and the complex selection process for the committee members ensures that the body is dominated by pro-Beijing businesspeople. Yet polls consistently show that a majority of Hong Kong’s population favors the introduction of universal suffrage — although that majority has shrunk slightly over the years as the mainland Chinese economy has grown much faster than Hong Kong’s. | Just 1,200 members of an electoral committee are currently allowed to choose the chief executive, and the complex selection process for the committee members ensures that the body is dominated by pro-Beijing businesspeople. Yet polls consistently show that a majority of Hong Kong’s population favors the introduction of universal suffrage — although that majority has shrunk slightly over the years as the mainland Chinese economy has grown much faster than Hong Kong’s. |
| Beijing officials have indicated that they will approve giving the vote to all Hong Kong adults only if a nomination committee tightly controlled by Beijing loyalists is allowed to dictate whose names will appear on the ballot. Democracy groups have splintered in offering a wide range of alternative plans, which vary according to the extent to which the general public would be allowed to influence the nomination of candidates. | Beijing officials have indicated that they will approve giving the vote to all Hong Kong adults only if a nomination committee tightly controlled by Beijing loyalists is allowed to dictate whose names will appear on the ballot. Democracy groups have splintered in offering a wide range of alternative plans, which vary according to the extent to which the general public would be allowed to influence the nomination of candidates. |
| But while critics of the Tiananmen Square crackdown may be deeply divided in Hong Kong, and while some informal surveys have suggested that the Communist Party may be having some success in preventing the young on the mainland from learning about the incident at all, there are signs that memories of the event are enduring in surprising ways. | But while critics of the Tiananmen Square crackdown may be deeply divided in Hong Kong, and while some informal surveys have suggested that the Communist Party may be having some success in preventing the young on the mainland from learning about the incident at all, there are signs that memories of the event are enduring in surprising ways. |
| In Hong Kong, the crowds attending the annual candlelight vigil seem to be getting younger each year. A public opinion survey released on Tuesday by Hong Kong University found that support for the students who struggled and in some cases died for their beliefs in Beijing a quarter-century ago is strongest by far among those under the age of 30 in Hong Kong, who are too young to have been aware of the killings when they happened. | In Hong Kong, the crowds attending the annual candlelight vigil seem to be getting younger each year. A public opinion survey released on Tuesday by Hong Kong University found that support for the students who struggled and in some cases died for their beliefs in Beijing a quarter-century ago is strongest by far among those under the age of 30 in Hong Kong, who are too young to have been aware of the killings when they happened. |
| Young people in Hong Kong face worse job prospects than previous generations did at the same age, even though they are often better educated, as many businesses in Hong Kong have struggled to stay competitive with mainland rivals. The city’s young people have become increasingly willing to join street protests to call for greater democracy here and on the mainland and for renewed attention to what happened in the streets of Beijing in 1989. | Young people in Hong Kong face worse job prospects than previous generations did at the same age, even though they are often better educated, as many businesses in Hong Kong have struggled to stay competitive with mainland rivals. The city’s young people have become increasingly willing to join street protests to call for greater democracy here and on the mainland and for renewed attention to what happened in the streets of Beijing in 1989. |
| Sentiment among the young here could be a warning sign for Beijing, which has expanded its annual number of college graduates fivefold since 2000 and now faces widespread joblessness among its recent graduates, in an economy that still emphasizes blue-collar jobs in manufacturing and construction. | Sentiment among the young here could be a warning sign for Beijing, which has expanded its annual number of college graduates fivefold since 2000 and now faces widespread joblessness among its recent graduates, in an economy that still emphasizes blue-collar jobs in manufacturing and construction. |
| Rising interest in Tiananmen Square among Hong Kong’s young “is quite peculiar and unexpected,” said Kwok Ka-ki, a pro-democracy Civic Party member of the Hong Kong legislature. “Instead of less concerned, they are becoming more concerned.” | Rising interest in Tiananmen Square among Hong Kong’s young “is quite peculiar and unexpected,” said Kwok Ka-ki, a pro-democracy Civic Party member of the Hong Kong legislature. “Instead of less concerned, they are becoming more concerned.” |