It is a route Wei Siu-lik remembers by heart. She knew where to turn, where to cross, where to pause but mostly she cherished the sense of camaraderie with others who ran alongside her. For more than 10 years, she had joined the annual marathon in Hong Kong commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown ahead of its anniversary on June 4. Starting from Tsim Sha Tsui, dozens of them would cross the harbour by ferry, run past government headquarters in Admiralty and the Pillar of Shame – a sculpture at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) honouring those who died in the crackdown in 1989 – before finishing at Beijing’s liaison office in Western district.
But this year, Wei and three friends were left on their own to carry on their decade-long tradition on May 22, after event organiser, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which was behind the annual candlelight vigil marking the crackdown anniversary, disbanded last September. Three core leaders of the alliance were charged with subversion under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 and which also bans acts of secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. Apart from having to accept that some of her running peers were now behind bars amid a new political landscape, Wei also found it hard to believe the Pillar of Shame was gone. Last December, HKU removed the eight-metre sculpture in light of “external legal advice and risk assessment”. Depicting a mass of writhing, tortured bodies, the artwork, a gift to Hong Kong from Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt, was regarded as a June 4 icon. A day after HKU’s move, Chinese University and Lingnan University followed suit, removing a statue known as the Goddess of Democracy and tearing down a wall relief respectively, both symbols marking the crackdown. “Things have taken a drastic turn at a fast pace,” Wei, a former district councillor, said. “I still remember we decided to start in Tsim Sha Tsui because we wanted to promote the cause to mainland tourists there. But now maybe even Hongkongers will refrain from sharing any posts related to the crackdown on social media.” That insecurity was also carried by Wei, who did not take any group pictures following the run. “I know in my heart what we did is not illegal, but you just never know where the so-called red line is being drawn,” she said. In 1989, China was gripped by a pro-democracy movement, leading to street protests, weeks of sit-ins and hunger strikes at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Students and residents demanded reforms, culminating in a military crackdown on June 4. It is still unclear how many died.
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