HK Police Warn Against June 4 Gatherings

The police will be out in force this Saturday, June 4

It's that time of year again when the police send out warnings that aren't explicit enough but seriously hint that people should not commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the June 4 massacre in Tiananmen Square -- and that they should stay away from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.

The admonition came after Liauw Ka-kei, senior superintendent for operations from Hong Kong Island Regional Headquarters told reporters the police will closely monitor for any signs of a terrorist attack by radical activists.

With the national security law in place since June 2020, the chances of radical activists having something up their sleeve is very slim.

Mass gatherings for June 4 are a thing of the past

People just want to commemorate this tragic event, and they are denied the ability to do that, yet again.

Yet Liauw warned people not to even encourage others to gather at Victoria Park, and that the police would step up patrols in and around Causeway Bay.

"I just say that whatever police actions [we are] going to take, including police presence in the vicinity, as well as doing some control measures at Victoria Park, all our objectives are back to the basic -- to maintain public order and public safety," he said.

"And also, if we could prevent the unlawful, unauthorised assemblies from happening, it would be the best approach, instead of making arrests or making strict enforcement actions. This is not what we hope for."

So basically he says in a roundabout way is, please don't gather at Victoria Park.

Liauw was asked by reporters if people wore black clothes near the area, and/or they lit candles, would they be arrested, he had a vague but underlying threatening response.

"Even if you are alone and coming to Victoria Park, according to the law I must stress that if you are staying with a group of people at the same place, at the same time and with a common purpose to express certain views, it is already meeting the definition of a meeting. And depending on the number of persons at the scene, that may contravene offences, including [taking part in] unauthorised assemblies," he said.

Police will block every entrance to the park

"Really try not to test the boundaries, as well as testing the determination of our commitment in enforcing the law in this operation."

He has scared off anyone who regularly exercises at the park, and now he is trying to shoo away anyone with any intention of holding some kind of vigil.

Can he not say that vigils related to June 4 are now considered illegal and that the police will be in the park to enforce this?

But it seems he cannot even say the date or the name of the incident. Even that is off limits, perhaps because Beijing doesn't even acknowledge it happened, let alone how many people died that night.

It shows the lengths at which the Hong Kong government is desperately trying to keep people away, but at the same time seems willing to enforce the law strictly should anyone show up at Victoria Park on Saturday evening.

For people who have gone to the park every year for over three decades, it's a hard habit to break, and hard to comprehend this new reality that does not include a candlelight vigil that up until over two years ago was sanctioned.

However,  it's the new normal, one that has scrubbed June 4 from its calendar, but is still fully ingrained in people's hearts.