{"id":13207,"date":"2012-05-28T05:05:11","date_gmt":"2012-05-28T05:05:11","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-05-28T05:05:11","modified_gmt":"2012-05-28T05:05:11","slug":"Hundreds-march-in-Hong-Kong-to-remember-Tiananmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=13207","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds march in Hong Kong to remember Tiananmen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of pro-democracy activists marched through central Hong Kong yesterday to mark the 23rd anniversary of the crushing of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Activists marched to the government headquarters in the first of a series of planned events marking the anniversary in the southern Chinese city.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Several marchers said they feared the government of chief executive-elect Leung Chun-ying, chosen by a pro-Beijing electoral committee to replace outgoing Hong Kong chief Donald Tsang in February, would roll back democratic freedoms.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want the Chinese government to be in charge of us,” university student Catherine Booldown said as she took part in the march.<\/p>\n

Lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung added: “If there is still one-party rule in China, we will still be marching.”<\/p>\n

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the Chinese government sent in tanks and soldiers to clear the square in central Beijing on the night of June 3-4, 1989, and end six weeks of unprecedented pro-democracy protests.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An official Chinese Communist Party verdict after the Tiananmen protests branded the movement a “counter-revolutionary rebellion,” although the wording has since been softened.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong was a British colony until it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 as a semi-autonomous territory with its own mini constitution that guarantees basic rights and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland.<\/strong><\/p>\n