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		</div><p>Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong gathered to mark 30 years since China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.</p>
<p>Hong Kong is the only region under Beijing’s jurisdiction that holds significant public commemorations of the 1989 crackdown and memorials for its victims. Hong Kong has a degree of freedom not seen on the mainland as a legacy of British rule that ended in 1997.</p>
<p>The annual vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park near the bustling Causeway Bay shopping district appeared to draw tens of thousands of participants who held candles.</p>
<p>Following an introduction of songs in the city’s Cantonese dialect and traditional string music, a minute of silence was held for the Tiananmen crackdown victims.</p>
<p>This year’s vigil featured a replica of the Goddess Of Democracy, a plaster sculpture of a female figure holding a torch that was displayed in Tiananmen Square in the days leading up to the crackdown, which took place on the night of June 3-4, 1989, and is believed to have killed hundreds and possibly thousands of people.</p>
<p>Chow Hang Tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organises the annual event, said: <em>“That statue was crushed by tanks at the June 4 crackdown, the June 4 massacre. So we are rebuilding this here … to symbolise that we are still continuing to fight for democracy, and continue on the spirit of the ’89 democratic protests.”</em></p>
<p>Meanwhile, at the University of Hong Kong, a dozen students lay flower bouquets at the Pillar Of Shame, a sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiot commemorating the crackdown’s victims.</p>
<p>Students later observed a minute of silence in remembrance of the crackdown’s victims before scrubbing the pillar clean in an annual ritual.</p>
<p>Recent years have witnessed a generational divide about how best to memorialise the crackdown, and since 2015, Hong Kong university students have arranged their own commemorations separate from the main candlelight vigil.</p>
<p><em>“People who attend the vigil consider themselves Chinese. We disagree with this identity,”</em> said Jordan Pang, acting chair of the Hong Kong University Students’ Union’s current affairs committee.</p>
<p><em>“I think the young generation and most students consider themselves Hong Kongers. If we need to commemorate, we do not want to use (the vigil) to commemorate,”</em> Mr Pang said.</p>
<p>Despite its pro-democracy theme, young Hong Kongers see the vigil as promoting Chinese nationalism, said Samson Yuen, a professor of political science at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University.</p>
<p><em>“They argue that Hong Kong needs to determine its own future. Hong Kong may need to seek independence from China and they believe that June 4 is a battleground,”</em> Mr Yuen said.</p>
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