(4 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hong Kong – 04 June 2024
1. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee walking into briefing
2. Wide pan of briefing
3. SOUNDBITE (English) John Lee, Hong Kong Chief Executive:
"The government position on public events is very clear. All activities by any person must be conducted according to the law. No activities that contravene the law should take place. The government of course will take action in accordance with the law, which includes the Public Order Ordinance, the Hong Kong National Security Law, and the Safeguarding Hong Kong Security Ordinance."
4. Wide of reporters
5. SOUNDBITE (English) John Lee, Hong Kong Chief Executive:
"The threat to national security is real, and such activities can happen all of a sudden, and different people may use different excuses to hide their intention, so it is important we all bear that in mind, to be on guard all the time against attempts to cause trouble to Hong Kong, particularly disturbing public peace."
6. Wide of briefing
7. Lee walking out of briefing
STORYLINE:
On the 35th anniversary of the June 4th, 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing, Hong Kong’s leader John Lee avoided directly answering questions about it.
In Hong Kong, no large-scale public commemorations are expected on Tuesday, as the city’s decades-old annual vigil has ceased under the shadow of a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
At his weekly press conference, reporters asked Lee whether people would be stopped from going to the traditional vigil venue.
Without directly referring to Tiananmen commemorations, Lee said the government’s position on public events was clear.
"All activities by any person must be conducted according to the law. No activities that contravene the law should take place.", Lee said.
"The threat to national security is real, and such activities can happen all of a sudden, and different people may use different excuses to hide their intention, so it is important we all bear that in mind, to be on guard all the time against attempts to cause trouble to Hong Kong, particularly disturbing public peace." he added.
The current approach of Hong Kong authorities on and around June 4th is to deploy a massive police presence on the streets around the park where the vigil used to take place.
For decades, the vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park used to draw thousands of people each June 4 to remember the crackdown, during which government troops opened fire on student-led pro-democracy protesters, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands, dead.
But the vigil has vanished under the shadow of a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. Critics say its disappearance has illustrated that the freedoms promised to be kept intact in Hong Kong for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 have been drastically eroded.
After the enactment of the law, the group that organized the vigil disbanded. Three of its former leaders, including activist Chow Hang-tung, were charged with subversion under the sweeping law. Tiananmen-related statues were also removed from universities.
Like last year, Victoria Park on Tuesday will host a carnival by pro-Beijing groups.
Beijing and Hong Kong governments have insisted that the law helped bring back stability to the city following huge anti-government protests in 2019.
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