(From AFP)
Tens of thousands gathered Saturday for Hong Kong’s commemoration of the Tiananmen Square crackdown despite many young activists turning their backs on the candlelit vigil as calls grow for greater autonomy from China.
The vigil, which each year draws tens of thousands, has caused a widening rift in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp between those who believe the victims of the crackdown should be remembered and those who see the event’s message as increasingly irrelevant.
Semi-autonomous Hong Kong is the only location on Chinese soil to see a major commemoration to mark the military’s crushing of pro-democracy protests in central Beijing in 1989, with residents gathering en masse in Victoria Park every year.
But young activists from the new “localist” movement say Hong Kong should push for its own autonomy, even independence, rather than the democratization of the mainland, which is part of the vigil’s main message. Read More