June 4 Remembered in Vancouver

"Don't Forget June 4" written in chalk on the ground

The Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement commemorates the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre every year, with not only marches to the Chinese consulate on the anniversary day, but also events leading up to it. 

This year the group moved up the march to May 27, where New Democratic Party MP Jenny Kwan participated. She was recently cited as one of two politicians a Chinese diplomat allegedly targeted. The diplomat was subsequently sent back to China. 

Meanwhile two remembrances were held today in two locations. 

A terrier took part in the event

In the morning there was a ceremony held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, a cemetery in Burnaby, and at around lunchtime another by the small Goddess of Democracy statue that stands near the Student Union Building at the University of British Columbia.

Sadly a fence was an ugly backdrop, as there is a construction site right next to the Student Union Building and there are fears the statue may be moved again.

Originally, Mabel Tung, chair of the VSSDM, had tried to get the statue placed in Chinatown, but it was vehemently opposed to the proposal. It was eventually accepted at UBC in 1991.

About 30 people showed up at the latter event, almost all wearing black, masks and sunglasses. The majority were middle-aged, along with a few young people, and one or two young families. 

Tung led the mini ceremony, first asking attendees to stand for a minute of silence. She then gave a quick speech to recount what happened 34 years ago, and how there used to be a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park every year until 2020. 

The activist said as a result it was even more important for the Hong Kong diaspora to continue to remember not only the victims of the bloody crackdown, but also the Tiananmen Mothers group, and the victims of the 2019 protests in Hong Kong.

Most attendees took a group photo together

Attendees were given either yellow carnations or roses and asked to line up one by one to pay their respects to the Goddess of Democracy. Many bowed three times in front of the statue before placing the flower on the pedestal. There was also a wreath of yellow carnations for the Tiananmen Mothers.

Nearby was a makeshift memorial with flowers and photocopied drawings of Chow Tsz-lok, the 22-year-old student who fell to his death on the third storey of a carpark in Tseung Kwan O on November 4, 2019 during the Hong Kong protests. 

Another portrait was of Li Wenliang, the doctor in Wuhan who alerted the world about Covid-19 in December 2019 and died in February soon after he was infected.

The third person remembered was Peng Ming, a pro-democracy activist and Christian who founded the China Development Federation in 1998. Later that year the authorities banned the group and Peng was sentenced to 18 months of re-education through labour.

Upon his release in 2000, Peng went to Thailand with his parents where they were granted refugee status. He later moved to San Francisco and re-established his federation again, calling for the end of one-party rule and replacing it with democracy.

A memorial for activist Peng Ming

Four years later during a visit to his parents in Thailand, Peng was lured into Burma by Chinese special agents and abducted into China where he was convicted on trumped-up charges. In 2005 he was sentenced to life in prison in Hubei, but 11 years later the prison authorities announced he had died suddenly at the age of 58.

Next Sunday VSSDM will hold a candlelight vigil at Dr David Lam Park from 4pm onwards.