Thousands of people in Hong Kong defied a police ban Thursday evening, breaking through barricades to hold a candlelight vigil on the 31st anniversary of China's crushing of a democracy movement centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
With democracy all but snuffed out in mainland China, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned the annual vigil to remember victims of the 1989 crackdown.
Earlier Thursday, the Hong Kong legislature passed a law making it a crime to disrespect China's national anthem after the pro-democracy lawmakers disrupted proceeding twice to try to prevent the vote.
Despite the ban on the vigil, crowds poured into Victoria Park to light candles and observe a minute of silence at 8:09 pm (1209 GMT). Many changed “Democracy now”and also “Stand for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”
While police played recordings warning people not to participate ..
Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when tanks and troops moved in on the night of June 3-4, 1989, to break up weeks of student-led protests that had spread to other cities and were seen as a threat to Communist Party rule.
China did not intervene directly in last year's protests, despite speculation it might deploy troops, but backed the tough response of the Hong Kong police and government.
It then announced last month at the annual meeting of its ceremonial ..
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