Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Hong Kong police warn against ‘unlawful assemblies’ on June 4

Hong Kong police warn against ‘unlawful assemblies’ on June 4

Police reveal there have been online calls encouraging people to gather around the park on anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Hong Kong police have warned residents not to participate in any “unlawful assemblies” around Victoria Park on Saturday, after authorities banned the annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown for a third straight year.

The appeal by the force on Thursday came as a virtual museum featuring a detailed history of the 1989 crackdown was found to be inaccessible in Hong Kong, sparking concerns on whether the site had been blocked ahead of June 4.

Senior Superintendent Liauw Ka-kei of the Hong Kong Island regional headquarters revealed there had been online calls encouraging people to participate in unlawful assemblies around Victoria Park on Saturday, but declined to give further details.

“I do not want to help them to advertise here,” he told reporters. “But we did notice these situations.”

For the past three decades, the candlelight vigil in Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park was the only large-scale commemoration of the crackdown on Chinese soil.


No arrests had been made as of Thursday afternoon regarding the online incitement, he added.

Police had not received any applications from opposition groups to hold events related to the anniversary, but said officers would be deployed across the city, especially in the park.

For the past three decades, the candlelight vigil in Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park was the only large-scale commemoration of the crackdown on Chinese soil.

But the event had been banned since 2020 on the grounds of public health concerns triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, while event organiser Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China disbanded last September in light of the national security law.

Liauw said he did not see any legal issues for residents should they commemorate the crackdown by lighting candles on their own at home on Saturday.

“I think [residents] do not need to be over-worried or over-interpret our intention to make an appeal here,” he said.

But when asked to clarify whether wearing black clothing or lighting up a candle on the street would be illegal, Liauw said some behaviour might “cross a line” but there were “too many hypothetical factors” in the examples raised by reporters.

“Even if you are alone and then coming to the park, but according to the law, I have to stress that if you are staying together with a group of people in the same place and the same time, and with a common purpose to express certain views, it is already meeting the definition of a public meeting,” he said.

He also did not reveal whether the force would shut down part of Victoria Park on Saturday.

Football pitches at Victoria Park for June 4 have been fully booked, with officials saying the premises would be available for sports on that day but not for “other purposes”.

Meanwhile, it emerged that the online “8964 Museum” was no longer accessible on some devices in the city since Wednesday night, three days ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the crackdown.

The site, which was crowdfunded by the Hong Kong alliance before its dissolution, was still accessible via VPN and from overseas.

A check by the Post using an internet security application found that the site was “likely to be blocked” under internet service providers (ISP) such as Birdie, 3HK, CSL and China Mobile Hong Kong. But it was accessible via SmarTone and the HGC Global Communications.

IT expert Wong Ho-wa said that if the site remained inaccessible in the city for a few days to a week, there was a good chance it had been blocked.

He added that authorities had the power to order ISPs in the city to block access to certain addresses, noting that the possibility of hackers attacking the website was low.

The “8964 Museum” website is a virtual museum featuring a detailed history of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.


In January 2021, the Hong Kong police invoked the national security law for the first time to halt access to HKChronicles, a site recording anti-government protests and officers’ details.

However, Anthony Lai, security researcher at cybersecurity company VXRL, said it was unlikely to be the case for the virtual museum, after a brief test on it showed the site remained accessible via some providers.

This is not the first time the museum site has been inaccessible in the city. It was also reportedly inaccessible via several telecoms providers in September 2021, less than two months after the site was first launched.

Germany-based Chinese writer Chang Ping, who was delegated by the alliance to run the site after risk assessments, said they had not received any notification from Hong Kong authorities regarding an apparent block.

“We believe that this is an ignominious act to wash away the history and memory. We believe that the efforts to fight against totalitarianism will always be remembered,” he said.

Police declined to comment on individual cases, saying only that they could invoke the national security law to request ISPs to block access to certain electronic messages deemed likely to constitute or cause an offence.

The Post has reached out to the ISPs for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×