Mainland Chinese Dissidents Hit Out at Police Raid on Hong Kong Alliance

Mainland Chinese democracy activists and relatives of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre have paid tribute to the organizers of a now-banned candlelight vigil marking the June 4, 1989 crackdown, as Hong Kong national security police charged three of them with "subversion." The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China's former leaders Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho and current vice chair Chow Hang-tung have been charged with "incitement to subvert state power."

Chow and four other Alliance members have also been charged with "failing to comply with a notice to provide information" under Article 43 of the national security law. The June 4 Memorial Hall, a museum dedicated to preserving a historic record of the Tiananmen massacre, was also raided by national security police, who took away a van-load of exhibits and boxes of materials on Thursday.

Zhang Xianling, a member of the Tiananmen Mothers' victims group who donated some items to the museum, said police were possibly trying to wipe out collective memories of the Tiananmen massacre and 1989 democracy movement. "What happened on June 4, 1989 took place in broad daylight," Zhang said. "The government brought in regular troops to kill innocent civilians, which was a crime."

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