180000 turned out for a mass candlelight vigil organised by the Hong Kong Alliance in support of Patriotic Democratic Movement of China, in Hong Kong on Tuesday evening 4th June 2019. This night marked 30 years since China’s bloody Tiananmen crackdown, a gathering tinged with symbolism as the city struggles to preserve its own cherished freedoms.
The semi-autonomous financial hub has hosted an annual vigil every year since tanks and soldiers smashed into protesters near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 — an illustration of the city’s unusual freedoms and vibrant political scene.
This year’s vigil comes at a time of huge controversy over plans by the city’s pro-Beijing government to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland for the first time.
The proposed law has sparked a backlash from figures in the legal and business communities as well as the largest demonstrations Hong Kong has seen since 2014, a year when pro-democracy protesters took over key intersections of the city for more than two months.