Hong Kong Vigil Remembers the Tiananmen Square Massacre

Tens of thousands of flickering candles lit up Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Saturday night local time as people gathered to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing.

The vigil is held every year to memorialize the thousands of pro-democracy students who were brutally gunned down by Chinese soldiers on June 4, 1989. China has suppressed all mention of the massacre on the mainland, but Hong Kong’s unique status as a special administrative region governed under the “one country, two systems” principle exempts it from the communist government’s censorship. It is the only Tiananmen vigil permitted on Chinese soil, and the largest memorial of the massacre in the world.

Despite concerns of a lower turnout this year, organizers estimated 125,000 people attended. A somber minute’s silence was followed by eruptions of applause that echoed through the Causeway Bay cityscape as the crowd watched videos, eulogies, songs and speeches.