Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China

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Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China
香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會
Logo of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.svg
Founded21 May 1989
TypeNon-profit organisation
Key people
Szeto Wah (founder)
Lee Cheuk-yan (current chair)
Albert Ho
Websitewww.alliance.org.hk
Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China
Traditional Chinese香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會
Simplified Chinese香港市民支援爱国民主运动联合会
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese支聯會
Simplified Chinese支联会

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (Chinese: 香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會; abbr. 支聯會; About this soundCantonese (help·info) About this soundMandarin (help·info) ) is a democratic organisation that was established on 21 May 1989 in the then British colony of Hong Kong during the demonstration for the students protest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. After the 4 June massacre, the organisation main goals are the rehabilitation of the democracy movement and the accountability for the massacre. The main activities the organisation holds are the annual memorials and commemorations, of which the candlelight vigil in Victoria Park is the most attended, reported and discussed event each year. Due to its stance, the Central government in Beijing considers the organisation subversive.[1] In July 2021, the organisation announced that, as a preventive measure against action by law enforcement, it would cut its paid staff and halve the size of its steering committee.

Five operational goals[]

The Alliance has five operational goals:[2]

  1. 釋放民運人士 (Release the dissidents)
  2. 平反八九民運 (Rehabilitate the 1989 pro-democracy movement)
  3. 追究屠城責任 (Demand accountability of the 4 June massacre)
  4. 結束一黨專政 (End one-party dictatorship)
  5. 建設民主中國 (Build a democratic China)

History[]

close-up view from below of a large white holding a torch; in upper background is large dome with clocks, a sign by the Hong Kong Federation of Students forms the lower part of the background
A statue of the Goddess of Democracy erected by the Alliance at the Times Square in 2009.
20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

In 1989, the sudden death of the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hu Yaobang, widely considered a liberal figure within the party leadership, sparked a series of protests at Tiananmen Square. The Hong Kong Federation of Students (FHKS) visited the student protesters in Beijing and mobilised for the support of the Hong Kong society after they returned to Hong Kong. On 20 May 1989 after Premier Li Peng imposed the martial law, the Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government (JCPDG), an umbrella organisation of the local pro-democracy activists decided to hold a demonstration at the Victoria Park and marched to the headquarters of New China News Agency (NCNA). On 21 May during the No. 8 typhoon signal, more than a million people marched in the street in support of the Tiananmen protests. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China was founded during the march.

On 4 June 1989, the Beijing government bloodily suppressed the peaceful protest. After the massacre, delegates from more than 200 civil groups elected a 20-member Standing Committee headed by Szeto Wah and Martin Lee to hold the subsequent commemorations and actions. The Alliance helped the "Operation Yellowbird", providing shelters and financial assistance in helping smuggling leaders of the democracy movement out of China. The Alliance also set up a database of the democracy movement and published works related to the movement. It also maintained close relationship with the Tiananmen Mothers initiated by Ding Zilin, a group of family members of those who were killed in the massacre, which vocally supported the democracy movements in China. State-run People's Daily accused the Alliance of having intention to overthrow the Chinese government.[3] Szeto and Lee, who were members of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee were unseated by Beijing after the duo resigned from the committee after the massacre.

The annual candlelight vigil at the Victoria Park among other activities has been the most iconic event organised by the Alliance, as it is the most attended consecutive commemoration of the 1989 protests. Tensions were high in 1996, which marked the seventh anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre.[4][5] Residents were not sure whether or not the annual demonstration would continue after the upcoming 1997 sovereignty handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.[6][5] The eighth anniversary, in 1997, was just before the handover. People in the demonstration speculated that it might turn out to be the last vigil.[7] In 1997, then Chief Executive-elect Tung Chee-hwa attempted to pressurise Szeto into not organising the vigil, and Szeto refused to speak to Tung ever again after three such attempts.[8]

As the protests were largely censored in Mainland China, the Alliance was one of the main sources of both the mainland and the local people to learn about the event. On the 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, the Alliance recorded a dramatic increase in number of the attendees of the vigil,[9] which was largely due to attendees from the young generation. A year before the Alliance also organised events and protests in support of the Charter 08 movement launched by mainland democracy activists such as Liu Xiaobo. After Szeto Wah, the Alliance's founding chairman died in 2011, the chairmanship was occupied by Lee Cheuk-yan. In 2014, the Alliance opened the 4 June Museum, the world's first memorial museum for the Tiananmen protests. In 2014, Albert Ho took over from Lee as the Alliance chairman until 2019, when the post was again taken up by Lee.[10][11]

The number of attendees kept at a high level until in recent years the emergence of the localist movement challenged the meaning of commemorating the Tiananmen protests, as some young localists perceived themselves as non-Chinese and disagreed with one of the goals of the Alliance, "build a democratic China". Such a view was held by localist scholar Chin Wan, who believed that the Chinese nationalistic sentiment and patriotism the Alliance projected was an obstacle for Hong Kong people to construct a distinct identity.[12][13] Some other criticisms included the overlapping membership of the Alliance and the Democratic Party, the ritualisation of the vigil and the ineffectiveness of the Alliance of achieving any of its operational goals. Since 2013 as the Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict intensified, the number of the attendees to the vigil gradually dropped. From 2015 to 16, the number the Alliance recorded dropped from 180,000 to 135,000.[14]

2021[]

In April 2021, convenor Lee Cheuk-yan was convicted, along with six other pro-democracy advocates, for his role in a rally that took place on 18 August 2019.[15] He was sentenced to 14 months in jail for his role in this and another August 2019 rally.[16][17][15] Fellow standing committee member, Albert Ho, was given a 12-month suspended sentence.[16][17]

On the 32nd anniversary of the protests in June, the vice chairwoman of the Alliance was arrested by Hong Kong Police. Chow Hang-tung was charged with promoting unauthorised assembly.[18] She was thrust into the limelight in 2021 because both Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho were in prison.[19][20] Although she was released on 5 June on bail,[21] Chow was arrested again on 30 June and this time bail was refused.[22] It was finally granted on 5 August.[23]

In July, the Alliance announced that it was dismissing all its permanent staff with effect from the end of the month to "ensure their safety"; seven members of its steering committee had resigned in view of "growing political and legal risks."[24]

On 27 July, the Alliance pleaded guilty on charges of having run its museum without a proper licence and paid an amount of 8,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$1,025) as a fine. The charge had been brought by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.[25]

On 4 August, the Alliance launched an online museum to replace the physical one, which had remained closed. The Alliance stated that the move to a website, run by an independent team, had been necessary due to "drastic changes" to Hong Kong's political environment and "intensified political repression".[26]

On 23 August, the standing committee of the Alliance held a special meeting. Vice chairwoman Chow did not confirm that the outcome was a recommendation to dissolve the Alliance, pointing to the annual general meeting as the occasion where all decisions would be taken.[27]

List of chairmen[]

  1. Szeto Wah, 1989–2011
  2. Lee Cheuk-yan, 2011–2014, 2019–present
  3. Albert Ho, 2014–2019

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Hong Kong filmmaker: Communist Party Must Face History". Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  2. ^ 關於支聯會 ("About the Alliance") Archived 10 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)
  3. ^ Weiss, Meredith Leigh; Aspinall, Edward (2012). Student Activism in Asia: Between Protest and Powerlessness. U of Minnesota Press. p. 89.
  4. ^ Mickleburgh, Rod (5 June 1996). "Hong Kong Remembers Massacre". The Globe and Mail (Pg. A.1).
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Gargan, Edward A. (5 June 1996). The New York Times. "Hong Kong Holds Vigil – the Last? – For Tiananmen Victims "Archived 29 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Mickleburgh, Rod (5 June 1996). "Hong Kong Remembers Massacre". The Globe and Mail (Pg. A.1)
  7. ^ The Associated Press (5 June 1997). "Memorial May Be Last in Hong Kong//Tiananmen Square Future in Doubt". Tulsa World.
  8. ^ "董建華 三勸停辦支聯會". 3 January 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  9. ^ "1989–2019: Perspectives on June 4th from Hong Kong". n.d. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  10. ^ "全年工作及財務報告". Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (Report for the year 2018–2019). Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  11. ^ "全年工作及財務報告". Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. ^ Ip, Kelly; Phneah, Jeraldine; NectarGan (5 June 2013) "Undampened" Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine. The Standard.
  13. ^ Tiananmen massacre remembered at massive Hong Kong vigil Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine, chinaworker.info, 6 June 2014
  14. ^ "大會宣布13.5萬人出席維園六四晚會". 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Neuman, Scott (1 April 2021). "Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai, 6 Others, Found Guilty For Roles In Pro-Democracy Protests". NPR. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Davidson, Helen (16 April 2021). "Hong Kong pro-democracy figures given jail terms of up to 18 months". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "Hong Kong Democracy Leaders Given Jail Terms Amid Crackdown". courthousenews.com. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  18. ^ "Tiananmen: Hong Kong vigil organiser arrested on 32nd anniversary". BBC News. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Hong Kong vigil organizer arrested on Tiananmen anniversary". AP NEWS. 4 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Compromise will lead to an 'infinite expansion of the red line,' says head of group behind Hong Kong's Tiananmen Massacre vigil". Hong Kong Free Press. 4 June 2021.
  21. ^ Kwan, Rhoda (7 June 2021). "Group behind Hong Kong's Tiananmen Massacre vigil vows to 'stand firm' after pro-Beijing figure warns it should disband". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  22. ^ Chau, Candice (2 July 2021). "Hong Kong Tiananmen Massacre vigil leader Chow Hang-tung denied bail over banned 2021 vigil". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  23. ^ Chau, Candice (5 August 2021). "Hong Kong Tiananmen Massacre vigil organiser Chow Hang-tung granted bail". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  24. ^ "Hong Kong pro-democracy group downsizes amid crackdown". Associated Press. 10 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021 – via Yahoo! News.
  25. ^ Siu, Jasmine (27 July 2021). "Organiser of Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigil fined HK$8,000 for operating June 4 museum without proper licence". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  26. ^ Kwan, Rhoda (5 August 2021). "Hong Kong's Tiananmen Massacre museum relaunches online after curators of 'unauthorised' physical site fined". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  27. ^ Cheung, Gary (24 August 2021). "Group that organised annual June 4 Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong decides to disband". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 25 August 2021.

External links[]

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