HONG KONG -- As China tightens its control over Hong Kong, activists in the city sought new ways Thursday to mark the 31st anniversary of the 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 Hong Kong, where authorities banned an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary in the semi-autonomous territory for the first time in 30 years.
Police cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak and barricaded sprawling Victoria Park to prevent people from gathering there. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the city's rights and liberties.
"We all know the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government really don't want to see the candle lights in Victoria Park," said Wu'er Kaixi, a former student leader who was No. 2 on the government's most-wanted list following the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Hundreds, 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.
"The Chinese Communists want us all to forget about what happened 31 years ago," Wu'er told the AP in Taiwan, where he now resides. "But it is the Chinese government themselves reminding the whole world that they are the same government ... doing the same in Hong Kong."
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 legislature that it would impose national security laws on Hong Kong, circumventing the city's legislature and shocking many of its 7.5 million residents.
Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where thousands of students had gathered in 1989, was quiet and largely empty on Thursday. Police and armoured vehicles stood guard on the vast surface. Few pedestrians lined up at security checkpoints where they must show IDs to be allowed through as part of mass surveillance nationwide to prevent any commemoration of the event.
As has become customary, many dissidents were placed under house arrest and their communications with the outside world cut off, according to rights groups.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson offered the government's standard defence of the 1989 crackdown.
"The Chinese government has made a clear conclusion about the political disturbance that occurred in the late 1980s," Zhao Lijian said. "The great achievements that we have achieved ... have fully demonstrated that the development path China has chosen is completely correct, which conforms to China's national conditions and has won the sincere support of the Chinese people."
Despite the ban on the candlelight vigil, Hong Kong was bracing for possible "pop-up" protests of the type that raged around the city last year and often led to violent confrontations between police and demonstrators.
Thousands have been arrested in the demonstrations, which were sparked by proposed legislation that could have allowed suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic and Democratic Movements of China that organizes the annual vigil called on people to light candles at 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) and planned to livestream the commemorations on its website.
Alliance Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan said protesters still planned to gather at the barricaded park to mourn victims of the massacre and show their support for the democratic cause in China. It wasn't clear what form the activity would take or how many would attend.
On Thursday, the Hong Kong legislature passed a law making it a crime to disrespect China's national anthem. The pro-democracy opposition, which sees the law as an infringement of freedom of expression, boycotted the vote.
"The Hong Kong government tried to please or show loyalty to Beijing and ban our gathering even before the national security law comes in. But we are determined," Lee said at a kiosk set up by the group to distribute flyers in the busy Causeway Bay shopping district near the park.
"The ban comes amid an alarming acceleration of attacks on the autonomy of Hong Kong and the undermining of the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people guaranteed under Hong Kong and international law," Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement.
Other vigils, virtual and otherwise, were planned elsewhere, including in Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy whose government called again this year for Beijing to own up to the facts of the crackdown.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted criticism of China and Hong Kong for banning the vigil earlier this week before meeting with a group of Tiananmen Square survivors at the State Department.
Zhao, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said, "We urge the U.S. to abandon ideological prejudice, correct mistakes and stop interfering in China's internal affairs in any form."
China has released the last of those arrested for directly taking part in the Tiananmen demonstrations, but others who seek to commemorate them have been rearrested for continuing their activism.
They include Huang Qi, founder of the website 64 Tianwang that sought to expose official wrongdoing. Reportedly in failing health, he is serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted of leaking state secrets abroad.
Moritsugu reported from Beijing. Associated Press videojournalist Taijing Wu contributed from Taipei, Taiwan.
