Hong Kongers in Tokyo raise alarm over China’s human rights issues on Tiananmen Anniversary

Hong Kongers living in Japan held a vigil on a sidewalk near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on Saturday evening to preserve Hong Kong’s tradition of honoring the Tiananmen victims, 33 years to the day of the deadly crackdown.

China’s military crackdown on protesters demanding democracy in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square took place on June 4, 1989.

According to reports from Hong Kong, Victoria Park was blocked off by police on Saturday. Some people were arrested for trying to commemorate Tiananmen by, for example, wearing a T-shirt with a message related to the crackdown.

A participant at the Tokyo vigil said: “Hong Kongers living overseas have to keep voicing our demands for freedom and democracy, as it is getting almost impossible for people in Hong Kong to do so. But we want people around the world to know that Hong Kongers have not given up.”