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Tiananmen Square memorial vigil in Hong Kong yielded record donations on 30th anniversary of bloody crackdown, organisers say

Tiananmen Square memorial vigil in Hong Kong yielded record donations on 30th anniversary of bloody crackdown, organisers say

Organisers of Hong Kong’s annual vigil for the victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown said they took their biggest ever donations haul following a record turnout to mark the incident’s 30th anniversary, which pan-democrats claimed as a sign of residents’ increasing willingness to back their movement.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China received more than HK$2.7 million (US$344,356) during the June 4 vigil on Tuesday night.

It was the highest amount collected at a vigil ever, the previous record being HK$2.3 million in 2012, according to Lee Cheuk-yan, general secretary of the alliance.

The group said a record crowd of more than 180,000 people had attended the Victoria Park event, compared with last year’s 115,000. The police put this year’s figure at 37,000 at its peak.

Lee said donations were driven by the elevated turnout and concern about Hong Kong’s future, especially amid a public backlash over an extradition bill that would allow the city to hand over fugitives to jurisdictions with which it has no previous agreement.

While the government insists the bill is necessary to plug legal loopholes, its opponents say it will leave city residents at risk of political or unjust prosecution in mainland China.

“People hope to do more things for Hong Kong … They hope to hang in with us,” Lee told a radio programme on Wednesday morning.

He said the Tiananmen crackdown and the extradition bill were underpinned by the same logic – upholding the stability of authority.

As it happened: How ‘record crowds’ turned out for Tiananmen Square 30th anniversary vigil

“Apart from moaning, people need to think about the current situation in Hong Kong,” Lee said. “We also asked people to join the rally on June 9 against the extradition bill.”

Political party the League of Social Democrats said it received HK$432,280 in donations on Tuesday, compared with HK$321,940 last year.

With regard to the police’s far more conservative estimate of attendees at the peak of the vigil, Lee said he would not comment on how the force came up with the turnout.

But he noted the attendance at the 25th anniversary vigil in 2014 was also about 180,000 according to the alliance, and the police estimate at the time was much higher then, at almost 100,000.

Hong Kong has kept flame of Tiananmen Square crackdown alive for 30 years, but for how long more?

Lee said he also noticed more young people attending with different ways of memorialising the historic event.

“Youngsters don’t necessarily need to identify with the alliance’s position,” he said. “But they should keep this memory.”

The alliance has organised the annual vigil in Hong Kong since 1990, demanding Beijing come clean on the facts and vindicate the student-led protest movement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the city’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, sidestepped questions on whether she would inform Beijing of Hongkongers’ calls to reverse the central government’s verdict that the crackdown had been justified.

She also said the government respected the views of the public “on a particular historic incident”.

Council Front legislator Au Nok-hin said Hongkongers had become more willing to take part in the city’s pro-democracy movement, saying donations to various campaigns had increased in the past year or so.

“After the Umbrella Movement [in 2014], many people have more or less lost faith in Hong Kong. But as the recent controversies, including that of the extradition bill, unfolded, people decided that they must join the protest although it may not lead to any successful change,” Au said.

“Because the bill will bring far-reaching and profound influences to Hong Kong. People in this case share a sentiment that we must fight desperately.”

This article Tiananmen Square memorial vigil in Hong Kong yielded record donations on 30th anniversary of bloody crackdown, organisers say first appeared on South China Morning Post

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