Use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of the articles. Copying articles to share with others is a violation of T & Canna and FT.com’s Copyright Policy. Email [email protected] to purchase additional rights. Subscribers can share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the giftware service. A commemoration in Hong Kong of the Tiananmen Square massacre has been heavily snuffed out, with authorities trying to push the crackdown on student protesters in a city that typically had the largest annual watch on Chinese soil.

The commemoration is one of the most sensitive events for the Chinese authorities, with a discussion of the censored demonstrations on the mainland and the survivors or families of victims who are regularly detained or questioned.

Hong Kong hosted the world’s largest annual commemoration every June 4 until it was banned in 2020, a year after pro-democracy protests engulfed Chinese territory. Authorities subsequently suppressed the opposition and extended Beijing control of the quasi-autonomous city.

Officials said the ban was two years ago to control the coronavirus pandemic but critics have accused the government of using the health crisis as a reason to thwart dissent.

Leaders of the Hong Kong Coalition in Support of the Chinese Patriotic Democratic Movements, the group that traditionally organized the watch, have been arrested and many are in prison. Chow Hang-tung, one of the organizers in a prison, often uses his court appearances to evoke memories of the death.

Victoria Park has been closed by authorities this year, where thousands of residents light candles to commemorate the event, from Friday night to early Sunday morning