CAUSEWAY BAY [HONG KONG] Chinese law enforcement agencies detained a street artist in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay on Monday, just hours before the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Voice of America (VOA) reported Tuesday.
Street artist Sanmu Chen was arrested in an area near Victoria Park, where the annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Square incident took place in 1989.
However, following the implementation of new security laws imposed by Beijing in 2020, the events and crowds have disappeared.
According to VOA, Chen was arrested for the second time. Last year the artist was arrested at the same time for allegedly chanting “Hong Kongers, don’t be afraid.Don't forget that tomorrow is June 4th."
This time the artist has been arrested for pretending to drink alcohol in front of a police van. Additionally, he was also seen writing or drawing in the air.
The same report claims that for more than a week, Chinese police have been cracking down on individuals accused of making "seditious" social media posts. One of the arrested individuals, Chow Hang-tung, is a pro-democracy activist and organizer of the annual Victoria Park event.Currently, Chow has served 30 months of his sentence from 2021.
According to historical records claimed in the VOA report, the crackdown on Tiananmen Square occurred after government troops fired on student-led pro-democracy protesters on June 4. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were killed. And now the annual event celebrated to show solidarity with the 1989 incident is no longer celebrated, the organizers of the event have disbanded and three of its leaders have been charged.
Critics said the end of surveillance showed that freedoms in Hong Kong have deteriorated since the British returned the former colony to Chinese rule in 1997, VOA reported.Beijing and Hong Kong have said the new law has restored stability after anti-government protests in 2019.
Hong Kong's Roman Catholic Cardinal Stephen Chow, referencing the same event of commemoration in an article published last week, said, "Perhaps it is through forgiveness that all parties can escape the painful mentality of finger-pointing and 'I will never forgive.' Can." Of the incident.
Many others have communicated it using coded and hidden references, several police officers spent an hour at an independent bookshop and recorded the names of customers when the staff posted a coded sign of June 4, "5.35" on the window. Reference was made, as claimed in the VOA report.
Street artist Sanmu Chen was arrested in an area near Victoria Park, where the annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Square incident took place in 1989.
However, following the implementation of new security laws imposed by Beijing in 2020, the events and crowds have disappeared.
According to VOA, Chen was arrested for the second time. Last year the artist was arrested at the same time for allegedly chanting “Hong Kongers, don’t be afraid.Don't forget that tomorrow is June 4th."
This time the artist has been arrested for pretending to drink alcohol in front of a police van. Additionally, he was also seen writing or drawing in the air.
The same report claims that for more than a week, Chinese police have been cracking down on individuals accused of making "seditious" social media posts. One of the arrested individuals, Chow Hang-tung, is a pro-democracy activist and organizer of the annual Victoria Park event.Currently, Chow has served 30 months of his sentence from 2021.
According to historical records claimed in the VOA report, the crackdown on Tiananmen Square occurred after government troops fired on student-led pro-democracy protesters on June 4. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were killed. And now the annual event celebrated to show solidarity with the 1989 incident is no longer celebrated, the organizers of the event have disbanded and three of its leaders have been charged.
Critics said the end of surveillance showed that freedoms in Hong Kong have deteriorated since the British returned the former colony to Chinese rule in 1997, VOA reported.Beijing and Hong Kong have said the new law has restored stability after anti-government protests in 2019.
Hong Kong's Roman Catholic Cardinal Stephen Chow, referencing the same event of commemoration in an article published last week, said, "Perhaps it is through forgiveness that all parties can escape the painful mentality of finger-pointing and 'I will never forgive.' Can." Of the incident.
Many others have communicated it using coded and hidden references, several police officers spent an hour at an independent bookshop and recorded the names of customers when the staff posted a coded sign of June 4, "5.35" on the window. Reference was made, as claimed in the VOA report.
