Even as Beijing curbed the possibility of protests over the June 4, 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square by a spate of preventive arrests for over 30 years, the flame of democracy kept burning bright in Hong Kong with candlelight vigils every June to mark the anniversary of the Chinese Communist party's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators 33 years ago.
No longer.
With Xi Jinping's government enacting laws that construe any dissent on the streets of Hong Kong as sedition, the light has literally gone out of the island's commemoration of the Tiananmen Square anniversary.
June 4 marks the 33rd anniversary when Chinese soldiers opened fire to end the student-led unrest in and around Tiananmen Square in central Beijing.
China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into the thousands.
The crushing of Hong Kong's long-held spirit of democracy by a tyrannnical regime is a warning of the dangers and threat from autocrats to all who believe in the spirit of true democracy.
Please click on the images for glimpses of the Hong Kong police's curbs ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
IMAGE: Policemen stand guard after announcing a closure of a part of Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 3, 2022.
Victoria Park is where the candlelight vigil used to be held in Hong Kong for the June 4, 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. All photographs: Tyrone Siu/Reuters
IMAGE: A police officer ask people to leave after announcing a closure of a part of Victoria Park.
IMAGE: Police officers search a man at Victoria Park.
IMAGE: A policeman stands next to electric candles placed by a man at Victoria Park.
IMAGE: A policewoman stands guard at Victoria Park.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
