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| Richard Tsoi, former secretary of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China speaks to the media on Sep 9, 2021. (File photo by= Reuters/Tyrone Siu) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] HONG KONG: A Hong Kong group that organizes an annual vigil on June 4 to remember protesters killed in China's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown will disband, it said on Saturday (Sept 25), after facing national security charges, Reuters reported.
The democracy group is the latest of the dozens of civil society bodies to fold over the past year, from a key trade union grouping to the largest teachers' union, after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in the city. "I believe Hong Kong people, no matter their capacity, will continue to commemorate Jun 4 as before," Richard Tsoi, the secretary of the group, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, told reporters. A vote on Saturday to disband was supported by 41 of its members with four opposed, Tsoi said.
Meanwhile, authorities froze HK$2.2 million (US$283,000) of the group's assets this month after it was charged with inciting subversion under the new law. Activist group Student Politicism, which had four current and former members charged this week, will also close, it said on its Facebook page on Friday. Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly denied curbing human rights and freedoms, saying law enforcement has been based on evidence and has nothing to do with the background, profession, or political beliefs of those arrested.
