Canadian Tiananmen Vigils Continue Amid Hong Kong Crackdown

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VANCOUVER - Cherie Wong barely recognizes today’s Hong Kong, the city where she grew up and which used to be the global hub for commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing.

"It's heartbreaking to think of my family members who attended June 4 memorials in Hong Kong from 1989 until recently," said Wong, an activist now in Canada. "Hong Kong was always a place where Chinese communities could come together to remember a major tragedy in China."

As Hong Kong authorities erase memorials and suppress dissent, Canadian activists are motivated to keep the memory of Tiananmen alive. The Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement has organized an annual vigil in British Columbia since 1989. In recent years, the gathering moved from outside the Chinese consulate to David Lam Park in Vancouver to accommodate more people.

Chairwoman Mable Tung noted that many new attendees are former Hong Kong residents inspired by the city's recent crackdowns, which intensified after the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in 2014 and the mass protests in 2019. The introduction of a strict national security law has further fueled their motivation.

"I spoke briefly with one attendee who arrived a year ago," Tung said. "She never attended the candlelight vigils in Victoria Park in Hong Kong but started coming to our vigil last year because she can’t do it in Hong Kong anymore. She wants to show the Chinese Communist Party that she still has her freedom here."

In Toronto, vigils were also held with plans for a march from the Chinese consulate to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office. The offices in Toronto and Vancouver did not respond to requests for comment.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, where hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed by Chinese troops. Hong Kong used to draw crowds exceeding 100,000 for the June 4 vigil until the government suppressed public displays of opposition, leading to the disbanding of the vigil’s organizers in 2021.

Sensitivity around the event remains high. In Hong Kong, social media footage showed police detaining an elderly man who silently traced the characters for June 4 in the air.

"What I see in Hong Kong now is not the Hong Kong I knew," Tung said. "It’s gone from vibrant to just another Chinese city. No freedom of speech or assembly. For the past four years, there have been no candlelight vigils in Victoria Park, which once glowed with millions of candles."

Foreign diplomats have been among the few visibly protesting. Candles adorned the U.S. consulate windows, and diplomats from Germany, the Netherlands, and the EU walked through Victoria Park, the former vigil site.

Tung and Wong believe that as the vigil vanishes from Hong Kong, events in cities like Vancouver and Toronto become even more significant. Wong, born after 1989, attended the Victoria Park vigil every year with her parents, shaping her connection to June 4.

"Resistance in Hong Kong continues subtly, like turning on cellphone lights to mimic candles," Wong said. "But overseas communities must play a crucial role and be their voice. We're standing on the shoulders of past activists."

Billy Fung, a recent University of British Columbia graduate, was arrested in 2016 in Hong Kong. He is saddened by the crackdown on Tiananmen commemorations and concerned about the strict control over information in Hong Kong.

"As a librarian, I'm worried about the freedom of information," Fung said. "Sensitive books are banned in public libraries. At the University of Hong Kong, visitors to a special collection on June 4 must now register their details. This threatens the preservation of memory for future generations."

Commemorative events have also grown overseas, with gatherings in Washington, London, and Taipei.

Hong Kong leader John Lee, when asked about public mourning for the crackdown, avoided a direct answer but stressed that “the threat to national security is real.”