For the first time since 1989, the city of Hong Kong, a special administrative zone of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), banned the annual night-time vigil commemorating the massacre of the Tiananmen Square protesters in Beijing.
Hong Kong officials cited health concerns over Covid-19, despite the lack of a major outbreak in Hong Kong.
The ban comes after the controversial passage of a new security bill which extends Beijing’s powers over the city, a law critics say erodes rights and freedoms traditionally enjoyed in Hong Kong but absent in other parts of the PRC.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters defied the ban to gather in Victoria Park for a minute’s silence, songs and the chanting of slogans.