Hong Kong’s Tiananmen museum shuts down amid investigation

Update: The Hong Kong museum commemorating China’s deadly 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests closed Wednesday three days after opening as the ruling Communist Party tries to stamp out the last traces of public discussion of the event.

Original below:

The organizer of Hong Kong's annual Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil has opened its yearly exhibit of photographs and paraphernalia from the bloody 1989 crackdown in Beijing on those calling for democracy in China.

The opening comes even as Hong Kong authorities have for the second year in a row banned the annual June 4 vigil, which normally draws tens of thousands of people into the streets. Authorities have cited the risk of the coronavirus, though the cancelation coincides with a broader crackdown on political activism and dissent in the city.

A staff member adjusts exhibits at the "June 4 Memorial Museum" run by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

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Vincent Yu/AP

Organized by the The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the museum each year shows photographs from the 1989 democracy movement as well as pictures from past candlelight commemorations in Hong Kong.

An image on a TV screen and a picture on the wall both showing a man blocking a line of tanks at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

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Vincent Yu/AP

This year, visitors to the museum will also be able to lay flowers in remembrance of the victims who lost their lives in the massacre that took place on June 4, 1989.

Pictures for past years of people gathered during a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park are displayed at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

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Vincent Yu/AP

For decades, the semi-autonomous Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Macao were the only places in China where public commemoration of the crackdown was allowed. Authorities in Macao have also canceled their vigil for a second year.

An image of China President Xi Jinping is shown on a TV screen at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

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Vincent Yu/AP

Despite the ban, thousands still turned up last year in Hong Kong's Victoria Park to light candles and sing songs. Later, police arrested more than 20 activists who were charged with taking part in an unauthorized assembly.

The "June 4 Memorial Museum" which commemorates the June 4, 1989, crackdown in Beijing, reopened Sunday, in advance of this year's anniversary.

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Vincent Yu/AP

The crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong followed months of anti-government protests that roiled the former British colony in 2019 and shook leaders back in Beijing.

A man walks past a backdrop of a Goddess of Democracy statue at the Tiananmen Square at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

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Vincent Yu/AP

A picture showing a man blocking a line of tanks at the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing is displayed at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

Credit:

Vincent Yu/AP

A picture showing a man blocking a line of tanks at the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing is displayed at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

Credit:

Vincent Yu/AP

A board showing the number of people attending the annual candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in past years is displayed at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

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Vincent Yu/AP

A 1989 newspaper on the crackdown of the June 4, 1989, pro-democracy movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square is displayed at the "June 4 Memorial Museum."

Credit:

Vincent Yu/AP

A visitor stands next to a cutout of a Goddess of Democracy at the "June 4 Memorial Museum" run by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

Credit:

Vincent Yu/AP

By Zen Soo/AP