Police in the Chinese territory took away Sanmu Chen on a street close to a park that for decades hosted an annual vigil to mourn the victims of the 1989 crackdown.

Hong Kong police briefly detained a performance artist on the eve of the 35th anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown, underlining the Chinese territory’s shrinking freedom of expression.

Police on Monday took away Sanmu Chen on a street in Causeway Bay, a busy Hong Kong shopping district, close to a park that for decades hosted an annual vigil to mourn the victims of the 1989 crackdown. Before officers approached Chen, he mimed the action of drinking in front of a police van. He also appeared to be drawing or writing something in the air.

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    5 months ago

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    Police on Monday took away Sanmu Chen on a street in Causeway Bay, a busy Hong Kong shopping district, close to a park that for decades hosted an annual vigil to mourn the victims of the 1989 crackdown.

    Critics say its disappearance has illustrated that the freedoms promised to be kept intact in Hong Kong for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 have been drastically eroded.

    Beijing and Hong Kong governments have insisted that the law helped bring back stability to the city following huge anti-government protests in 2019.

    Earlier on Monday, police arrested an eighth person on suspicion of alleged sedition over their posting of social media content about commemorating the Tiananmen crackdown under a new, home-grown national security law.

    On Sunday, a Christian newspaper, which typically publishes content related to the event ahead of its anniversary, left its front page mostly blank in its latest issue.

    Last week, Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic cardinal, Stephen Chow, wrote an article that subtly referenced the anniversary of the crackdown, calling for forgiveness, which he said could make “reconciliation and healing” possible.


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