China blasts US, EU consulates in Hong Kong over Tiananmen candles

Candles are seen lit in the windows of the US Consulate in Hong Kong on June 4, 2021. PHOTO: AFP

HONG KONG (AFP) - China on Saturday (June 5) berated the United States and European Union (EU) consulates in Hong Kong for displaying candles to commemorate the June 4 Tiananmen crackdown, slamming it as a "clumsy political show" to destabilise the city.

Candles were seen lit in the windows of the US consulate building, which is next to the residence of Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed leader Carrie Lam, and the EU's office on Friday night.

The missions also posted photographs of their candlelit Tiananmen memorials on social media.

"Any attempt to exploit Hong Kong to carry out infiltration or sabotage activities against the mainland crosses the red line," a spokesman for the Hong Kong office of China's foreign ministry said.

"We again urge the organs of relevant countries in Hong Kong to immediately... stop meddling with Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs at large, and avoid playing with fire."

For three decades in Hong Kong, huge crowds, often tens of thousands strong, have held candlelit vigils on June 4 for those killed in 1989 when tanks and troops crushed pro-democracy protests in Beijing.

Crowds have swelled in recent years as Hong Kongers chafe under Beijing's increasingly assertive rule.

However, this year's vigil was banned at a time when Hong Kong authorities are carrying out a sweeping clampdown on dissent following huge and often violent democracy protests two years ago.

Flashes of defiance still flickered across the city on Friday night as residents simultaneously activated their mobile phone lights or lit candles in multiple districts across the city to mark the date.

There were online calls for people to turn off lights at home and place candles in windows.

Public commemorations of June 4 are forbidden in mainland China and, until recently, semi-autonomous Hong Kong was the one place in China where large-scale remembrance was still tolerated.

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