Tiananmen vigils meant to honour victims, not incite subversion, activist tells trial

2026-03-25 - 12:32

A Hong Kong activist has said that annual Tiananmen vigils were meant to commemorate those killed in the crackdown, not incite subversion or promote her group’s ideals. Chow Hang-tung. Photo: Candice Chau/HKFP. Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, continued her testimony at her national security trial on Wednesday. Chow, co-defendant Lee Cheuk-yan, and the Alliance are standing trial for “inciting subversion,” an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. For decades, the Alliance organised vigils at Victoria Park to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing, when hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed as troops dispersed pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square. Chow told the court on Wednesday that the group held vigils with the primary aim of giving a voice to the Tiananmen Mothers – a group of parents who lost children in the crackdown. ‘Unresolved situation’ Chow, a barrister representing herself at the trial, played a video of the 2018 vigil in the courtroom. It showed Alliance leaders and vigil participants singing songs such as “Flowers of Freedom,” the group’s members and speakers laying flowers at a monument to commemorate those who died in the crackdown, and Alliance chairperson Albert Ho delivering a speech to mark the occasion. Ho, a co-defendant in the trial, faces the same charge. He doesn’t attend the hearings after pleading guilty earlier this year. Alliance leaders Albert Ho (second from right), Chow Hang-tung (third from right), and Lee Cheuk-yan (fourth from right) at the June 4 vigil in 2018. File Photo: Catherine Lai/HKFP. Chow also played a clip of Di Mengqi, a member of the Tiananmen Mothers, recounting the death of her son during the 1989 crackdown. “The most important session of the vigils was the speeches by the Tiananmen Mothers. They are the most directly affected parties and victims of the crackdown, whose wishes and demands form the basis of the June 4th remembrance movement,” Chow told the court. The Alliance was concerned with whether those who died in the crackdown would be granted justice, the activist added. “This is an unresolved situation that cannot be ignored.” At various points in the video, including when it showed the Tiananmen Mothers, prosecutor Ivan Cheung said that parts of the footage were irrelevant to the case, as some people who spoke at the vigil – including Chan Kin-man, a co-founder of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Occupy movement – were not part of the Alliance. But Judge Alex Lee said that the court had to view the video to consider whether any elements of incitement were present, including what was said and the speakers’ tone of voice. A monument at the Tiananmen vigil on June 4, 2018. Photo: Catherine Lai/HKFP. Chow also said that the Alliance’s June 4th museum was meant to document the “truth” of the Tiananmen crackdown and preserve its memory in the minds of the Hong Kong public. “If visitors can leave with a stronger impression of what happened on June 4, we would have attained our goal,” the activist said. And in response to the prosecution’s submission that the Alliance had sought to sell flowers at the annual Lunar New Year market in Victoria Park to make political demands, Chow said that selling flowers, even with a political motive, was not an illegal act. In February 2021, when the Alliance’s stall was shut down by authorities, Chow and other members were selling flowers known in Cantonese as “five big hydrangeas,” which sounds similar to the Chinese word for “five demands.” “Five demands, not one less” was a popular rallying cry during the 2019 protests and unrest. “You were using the rhyme to make a political statement as well as to promote the Alliance’s goals,” he said. Chow replied: “I was using political statements to sell flowers.”