TibetanReview.net, Jun06’23) – The United Nations rights chief has expressed alarm over detentions in Hong Kong linked to the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. However, China has defended the police action, saying the city was “moving from chaos to prosperity,” reported thestandard.com.hk Jun 6.
Police were reported to have detained 23 mourners on Jun 4, the 34th anniversary of Chinese military massacre of peaceful protesters demanding democratic reform on the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, for “breaching public peace.”
Also, a 53-year-old woman was reported arrested for “obstructing police officers”.
The report said that amid ramped up security around Victoria Park – the former site for the annual commemorative vigil where a three-day carnival was held on Jun 5 – citizens still tried to mourn the Jun 4 victims on their own by lighting candles or turning on smartphone flashlights.
All were stopped by the police and urged to leave. Police said 11 men and 12 women aged 20 to 74 were taken away from noon to 11 pm on Jun 4 for breaching public peace in Wan Chai and North Point, the report said.
Reacting to the development on twitter, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for the release of anyone detained for “exercising freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
On the other hand, China’s Foreign Ministry has spoken approvingly of the police action, saying “Hong Kong is moving from chaos to stability and prosperity along the right track of one country, two systems.”
“External forces” including the United States should uphold international law and stop “futile political manipulation” over Hong Kong to contain China, the report cited a foreign ministry spokesman as saying.
Also, Hong Kong’s Security Bureau has on Jun 5 opposed and condemned “fact-twisting and unfounded remarks” by international and local organizations which “smear the lawful enforcement actions of the police under the guise of the freedoms of speech, of the press and of assembly.”
The Bureau was apparently referring to the fact, among others, that the United States Consulate posted candlelight photos on its Facebook page, while the Canadian consulate said on Facebook that it joined the people of Hong Kong and others around the world in “remembering the violent crackdown against unarmed and peaceful citizens” on Jun 4, 1989.
Meanwhile, police have said Jun 5 that all 23 detainees were released. But there’s no information on the arrested woman.