In a stark reminder of Hong Kong's diminishing freedom of expression, performance artist Sanmu Chen was stopped by plainclothes police on Wednesday as he attempted to honour the victims of Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Chen tried to tie a symbolic red thread to a street signpost in the bustling shopping district of Causeway Bay, close to a park that had long been the site of annual candlelight vigils on June 4.
A Symbolic Gesture Cut Short
Chen's red thread measured 6.4 metres, an apparent reference to the date of the crackdown: June 4. Police officers quickly intervened, searching his bag before releasing him. When questioned by a reporter, Chen stated that his action was meant to express condolences for those who died. He remarked, "It's abnormal when people monitor you when you are saying or doing something."
Chen's History of Detention
This is not the first time Chen has faced police attention for his commemorative acts. In 2024, he was briefly detained on June 3 after appearing to write the Chinese characters for "eight nine six four" in the air. A year earlier, on the same date and in the same neighbourhood, he was detained for chanting, "Hong Kongers, do not be afraid. Don't forget, tomorrow is June 4."
On Wednesday evening, another artist, Chan Mei-tung, was also stopped by police while holding a question-mark-shaped balloon outside a department store. She was escorted to a subway station. Police have not commented on these incidents.
The Legacy of Tiananmen
In 1989, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese military was deployed to Tiananmen Square to end weeks of student-led protests. Soldiers fired live rounds, resulting in hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths, including dozens of soldiers. For decades, Hong Kong was the only place in China where large-scale public commemorations were held, with annual vigils in Victoria Park attracting tens of thousands of participants. However, these vigils were banned in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
Increasing Restrictions
That same year, Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong following massive anti-government protests in 2019. Since then, authorities have increasingly silenced dissent. Many leading activists have been arrested, vocal media outlets shut down, and dozens of civil society groups disbanded, including the one that organized the vigils. Three former vigil organizers were charged in 2021 with inciting subversion under the national security law. Two are awaiting verdicts, while the third has entered a guilty plea.
The Hong Kong and Beijing governments maintain that the security law is essential for the city's stability, and that human rights are respected and protected in safeguarding national security.
International Reaction
Commenting on the 37th anniversary, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, "No amount of censorship can erase the past. Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday." Rubio noted that the 1989 protesters were on the square "to exercise their natural rights and demand democratic reforms and accountability for corruption."
The crackdown remains a deeply sensitive subject in China, and Rubio's statement comes less than three weeks after a summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
