In a Twitter post, Drew Bavlou provides a video of a Hong Kong artist, Sanmu Chen, being arrested “for appearing to sign the numbers ‘8964’ in the air on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. He made a finger motion and wore a white shirt like the Tiananmen Tank Man, so he was arrested.”
1989 was the year of the massacre in Tiananmen Square (“89”). The day was June 4 (“64”).
NBC reports that officers took Chen to a police station “because they found him causing chaos at the scene.” The “chaos” was simply the attention of other Hongkongers, who were recording his action.
On the same day last year, Chen was also detained by police around the same area after chanting “Hong Kongers, do not be afraid. Don’t forget tomorrow is June 4.”
For decades, the vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park used to draw thousands of people each June 4 to remember the crackdown, during which government troops opened fire on student-led pro-democracy protesters, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands, dead.
But the vigil has vanished under the shadow of a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. Critics say its disappearance has illustrated that the freedoms promised to be kept intact in Hong Kong for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 have been drastically eroded.
After the enactment of the law, the group that organized the vigil disbanded. Three of its former leaders, including activist Chow Hang-tung, were charged with subversion under the sweeping law. Tiananmen-related statues were also removed from universities.
After the present incident, Chen was released “unconditionally,” according to Hong Kong police.
