A Hong Kong activist has said the annual Tiananmen vigils were meant to commemorate those killed in the crackdown, not to incite subversion or promote her group’s ideals.
Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of China’s Patriotic Democratic Movements, continued her testimony at her national security trial on Wednesday.
Chow, co-defendant Lee Cheuk-yan and the Alliance are on trial for “inciting subversion,” an offense under Beijing’s national security law that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
For decades, the Alliance has organized vigils in Victoria Park to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing, when hundreds, possibly 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 main aim of giving a voice to the Tiananmen Mothers – a group of parents who lost children in the crackdown.
‘Unresolved situation’
Chow, a lawyer representing himself in 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”, band members and speakers placing flowers at a monument to commemorate those who died in the strike, and Alliance chairman Albert Ho giving a speech to mark the occasion.
Ho, a co-defendant in the trial, faces the same charge. He is not attending the hearings after pleading guilty earlier this year.
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 vigil session was the speeches of 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 4 commemoration movement,” Chow told the court.
The alliance was concerned whether those who died in the strike would be brought to justice, the activist added. “This is an unresolved situation that cannot be ignored.”
At various points in the video, including when he showed the Tiananmen Mothers, prosecutor Ivan Cheung said parts of the footage were not relevant to the case, as some people who spoke at the vigil — including Chan Kin-man, a co-founder of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement Occupy — were not part of the Alliance.
But Judge Alex Lee said the court had to watch the video to consider whether there was any element of incitement, including what was said and the tone of voice of the speakers.
Chow also said the June 4 Alliance 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 will have achieved 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 selling flowers, even if politically motivated, was not an illegal act.
In February 2021, when The Alliance stall was closed by the authoritiesChow and other members were selling flowers known in Cantonese as “five big hydrangeas”, which sounds similar to the Chinese word for “five requests”.
“Five demands, not one less” was a popular rallying cry in the protests and riots of 2019.
“You were using the rhyme to make a political statement as well as promote the aims of the Alliance,” he said.
Chow replied: “I used political statements to sell flowers.”
