Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Hong Kong is one of the few places in Chinese territory where an annual remembrance vigil can be held.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Hong Kong to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Hong Kong and Macau are the only places in Chinese territory where people can commemorate the activists killed in 1989.

China has never given an official figure for how many people died, but estimates begin in the hundreds.

Organisers say 180,000 people joined a vigil in the city's Victoria Park.

But police put the number of attendees at under 40,000.

In mainland China, the authorities have banned even oblique references to the crackdown, which took place after weeks of mass protests that were tolerated by the government. The numbers gathered in and around Tiananmen Square are estimated to have reached a peak of one million people.

Hundreds of security personnel and police were monitoring the square in Beijing on Tuesday.

Refusing to forget

by Grace Tsoi, BBC World Service, Hong Kong

Image copyright Reuters

Hong Kong's Victoria Park is once again a sea of candlelight as far as the eye can see.

The crowd, many dressed in black, is mostly silent whilst holding up their candles in mourning. Some are crying. In between protest songs, they chant "the people will not forget".

The crowd claps and cheers when Liane Lee - who took part in the 1989 protests - shouts: "We refuse to forget. We refuse to believe the lies".

Standing watching is Teresa Chan. She has attended the commemoration every year since 1990, except once when she was ill.

"I wanted to go Beijing to be with the movement but I couldn't," she says. "I never imagined it would end the way it did, it's very hard to forget."

But there are also new faces in the crowd this year.

Image caption Protestor Teresa Chan has come to the protest in Hong Kong nearly every year

Ms Leung, who is in her 30s, says she decided to come for the first time because she is worried about Hong Kong's future.

"I am very angry with what the Chinese government is doing here," she says.

Amongst the remembrance flowers and candles, there are posters protesting against proposed amendments to laws concerning extraditions to mainland China. Many fear the changes will lead to the further erosion of civil liberties here in Hong Kong.

Here in Victoria Park are also some mainland Chinese residents like Mr Zeng who travelled to Hong Kong with his wife and 11-year-old daughter just to attend tonight's event.

His daughter says it's an eye-opening experience. "I am here to learn the real history about China. Now I feel like China is no better than other countries," she says.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Returning to Tiananmen Square for the first time

The vigils in Hong Kong come at a sensitive time for its leadership, with public backlash over a proposed bill that would allow fugitives captured in the city to be extradited to mainland China.

Smaller vigils are also expected 64km (40 miles) away in Macau's city centre, and on the self-governing island of Taiwan.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The gatherings come at a sensitive time for Hong Kong's leadership

The Tiananmen anniversary earlier prompted a war of words between Washington and Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticised China's human rights record and called on it to finally reveal how many people died in the crackdown.

In response, a Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington DC said his comments were "an affront to the Chinese people".

On Tuesday, China issued separate travel warnings to its citizens travelling to the US, citing police harassment and crime.

Its foreign ministry accused American law enforcement agencies of "harassing" Chinese citizens in the US through immigration checks and other methods.

What happened in 1989?

Pro-democracy protesters occupied Tiananmen Square in April 1989 and began the largest political demonstrations in communist China's history. They lasted six weeks.

On the night of 3 June tanks moved in and troops opened fire, killing and injuring many unarmed people in and around Tiananmen Square.

Afterwards the authorities claimed no-one had been shot dead in the square itself. Estimates of those killed in the crackdown range from a few hundred to several thousand.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Wang Dan one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square protests

At the weekend, Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe made a rare mention of the protests during a regional forum in Singapore.

"That incident was a political turbulence and the central government took measures to stop the turbulence, which is a correct policy," he said in response to a question.

He added that because of the action the government took, "China has enjoyed stability and development". </s> HONG KONG/BEIJING, June 4 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands joined a somber candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire on student-led democracy protesters in and around Tiananmen Square, as authorities in Beijing went into lockdown.

Demonstrators gathered in the financial hub's Victoria Park, holding up candles and placards as others rallied next to a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue, which was erected in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 demonstrations in Beijing.

Nearby, a life-size replica of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize-winning political dissident who died in 2017 while in custody, floated in a waterway adorned with flowers.

As tens of thousands thronged Hong Kong for the annual vigil, censors at Chinese internet companies said tools to detect and block content related to the 1989 crackdown had reached unprecedented levels of accuracy.

In the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems formula" that guarantees rights and freedoms not seen on the mainland, organizers said 180,000 joined the peaceful vigil, filling six football fields.

In comparison, authorities in mainland China, where the anniversary remains taboo, deployed a security blanket in and around Tiananmen Square. China has never provided a death toll for the 1989 violence. Rights groups and witnesses say it could run into the thousands.

"It is very important that Hong Kong people continue to remember the June 4 tragedy, and indeed, preserve the memory," said Richard Tsoi, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

"And don't let the Chinese authority try to erase the memory for the whole nation."

Veteran Hong Kong democracy campaigner and Baptist cleric Chu Yiu-ming who was in his mid-40s when he joined demonstrators around Tiananmen Square in 1989, just before the bloody crackdown, was overcome with emotion.

"I swear, as long as someone suffers and is humiliated, I have to voice it," he said.

Tourists thronged Tiananmen Square earlier on Tuesday amid tighter-than-usual security, although most visitors approached by Reuters said they were unaware of the bloody crackdown on student-led protests 30 years ago or would not discuss it.

The anniversary of the crackdown is not spoken of openly in China and is not formally marked by the government.

A 67-year-old man surnamed Li, sitting on a bench about a 10-minute walk from the square, said he remembered the events of June 4, 1989, and its aftermath clearly.

"I was on my way back home from work. Changan Avenue was strewn with burned-out vehicles. The People's Liberation Army killed many people. It was a bloodbath," he said.

Asked if he thought the government should give a full account of the violence, he said: "What's the point? These students died for nothing."

Refinitiv, a company that provides data and news to the financial services industry and was spun-off from the parent company of Reuters last year, has removed some Reuters stories on Tiananmen Square from its subscriber terminals. Reuters says its coverage is not affected.

Among the students' demands in 1989 were a free press and freedom of speech, disclosure of leaders' assets and freedom to demonstrate. However, exiled former protest leaders say those goals are further away in China than ever because the government has in the past decade suppressed a civil society nurtured by years of economic development.

Tiananmen also remains a point of contention between China and many Western countries, which have implored Chinese leaders to account for giving the People's Liberation Army (PLA) the order to open fire on their own people.

China's foreign ministry denounced criticism by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called for China to release all political prisoners and offered his salute to "the heroes of the Chinese people who bravely stood up 30 years ago in Tiananmen Square to demand their rights."

The vigil in Hong Kong is the biggest on Chinese soil. Smaller vigils are held in the former Portuguese territory of Macau and the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

In Taiwan's capital Taipei, a few hundred people gathered at Liberty Square for an event marked by documentaries, speeches and a dance dedicated to mothers of those who were killed in the Tiananmen crackdown.

"I'm very ashamed. I repent wholeheartedly," Li Xiaoming, a former PLA officer who participated in the military crackdown told the crowd from a stage in Taipei.

"The reason that I spoke up today is that I don't want people to forget the events of June 4," said Li, who is now an Australian citizen, as he burst into tears.

Back in Beijing, hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police monitored the square and its surroundings, conducting spot ID checks and inspecting car trunks. Thousands of visitors lined up at security checkpoints to enter the square, many carrying tour group flags.

A male tourist in his 30s near the square, who gave his family name as Zhang, said he had no idea about the anniversary.

"Never heard of it," he said. "I'm not aware of this."

The United Nations had received reports of detentions, threats and increased censorship ahead of the anniversary, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva.

"We have made our concerns known to the Chinese government and we are working to also verify these reports that we have received," she said.

While the June 4 vigil is an annual event in Hong Kong, it comes at a sensitive time for the city's leaders this year as they grapple with a backlash at home and abroad over a proposed extradition bill that would for the first time allow fugitives captured in the city to be sent to mainland China for trial.

Critics of the bill plan to protest in Hong Kong on Sunday, with rally organizers calling for 300,000 people to take to the streets. (Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong, Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in Beijing; Additional reporting by Cate Cadell in BEIJING, Yimou Lee in TAIPEI, David Lawder in WASHINGTON and Stephanie Nebehay and Marina Depetris in GENEVA Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Peter Graff) </s> Tens of thousands joined a sombre candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire on student-led democracy protesters in and around Tiananmen Square, as authorities in Beijing went into lockdown.

Demonstrators gathered in the financial hub's Victoria Park, holding up candles and placards as others rallied next to a replica of the Goddess of Democracy statue, which was erected in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 demonstrations in Beijing and looked like the US Statue of Liberty.

Nearby, a life-size replica of Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize-winning political dissident who died in 2017 while in custody, floated in a waterway adorned with flowers.

As tens of thousands thronged Hong Kong for the annual vigil, censors at Chinese internet companies said tools to detect and block content related to the 1989 crackdown had reached unprecedented levels of accuracy.

In the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems formula" that guarantees rights and freedoms not seen on the mainland, organisers said 180,000 joined the peaceful vigil, filling six football fields.

Analysts believe the high turnout is a reflection of a common concern people share on a new extradition law coming up in China.

"Hong Kong is frightened and scared," Keith Richburg, from the University of Hong Kong told Al Jazeera.

"People are really afraid of a new extradition law that is coming into effect that would allow people to be shipped over the border to mainland China to face trial ... so people are [worried] that China has slowly been chipping away at Hong Kong's rights, chipping away at Hong Kong's legal system," he added.

In comparison, authorities in mainland China, where the anniversary remains taboo, deployed a security blanket in and around Tiananmen Square. China has never provided a death toll for the 1989 violence. Rights groups and witnesses say it could run into the thousands.

"Everybody is concerned about Tiananmen after 30 years," Wei Fenghe, China's minister of defence said on Sunday, in rare official comments about the repression.

"[In the past] 30 years, China, under the Communist Party, has undergone many changes. Do you think the government was wrong with the handling of June 4th? There was a conclusion to that incident. That was a political turmoil, that the central government needed to quell," Fenghe added.

But analysts believe that the course of action China has taken has not led to good changes.

Richburg said the Chinese government has been able to successfully control dissent through several means, including creating "a massive surveillance state.

"They have also been able to isolate themselves by wrapping themselves in the nationalist flag, so any criticism of China becomes a criticism of the Chinese people and the Chinese culture .. the government has also been insulated by a very strong economy, they have been saying ... leave us alone to rule the country, and we will keep the economy growing ... just don't get involved in politics."

The vigil in Hong Kong is the largest on Chinese soil. Smaller vigils are held in the former Portuguese territory of Macau and the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

Tourists thronged Tiananmen Square earlier on Tuesday amid tighter-than-usual security, although most visitors approached by Reuters said they were unaware of the bloody crackdown on student-led protests 30 years ago, or would not discuss it.

The anniversary of the repression is not spoken of openly in China and is not formally marked by the government.

A 67-year-old man surnamed Li, sitting on a bench about a 10-minute walk from the square, said he remembered the events of June 4, 1989, and its aftermath clearly.

"I was on my way back home from work. Changan Avenue was strewn with burned-out vehicles. The People's Liberation Army killed many people. It was a bloodbath," he said.

Asked if he thought the government should give a full account of the violence, he said: "What's the point? These students died for nothing."

Tiananmen also remains a point of contention between China and many Western countries, which have implored Chinese leaders to account for giving the People's Liberation Army (PLA) the order to open fire on their own people.

China's foreign ministry denounced criticism by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who called for China to release all political prisoners and offered his salute to "the heroes of the Chinese people who bravely stood up 30 years ago in Tiananmen Square to demand their rights". </s> HONG KONG — Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were preparing for a candlelight vigil Tuesday commemorating the 30th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown, underscoring concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.

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.

The annual event beginning at 8 p.m. at Hong Kong's Victoria Park near the bustling Causeway Bay shopping district is expected to attract tens of thousands of participants.

This year's vigil will feature 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 1989 crackdown, which took place on the night of June 3-4 and is believed to have killed hundreds and possibly thousands of people.

"That statue was crushed by tanks at the June 4 crackdown, the June 4 massacre. So we are rebuilding this here ... to symbolize that we are still continuing to fight for democracy, and continue on the spirit of the '89 democratic protests," said Chow Hang Tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organizes the annual vigil.

Visitor Winnie Ma, a 55-year-old church worker, said she brought her 80-year-old mother out to the park especially to view the statue on the 30th anniversary.

"I don't know if she will see it vindicated, but I hope that I will be able to," Ma said.

Meanwhile, at the University of Hong Kong, a dozen students laid flower bouquets at the "Pillar of Shame," a sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiot commemorating the crackdown's victims.

"Just because I wasn't born then and never experienced the event, there's no stopping me from reminding others like me of this and carrying on the collective memory," said 18-year-old student Donald Chung.

Thirty years ago, the Tiananmen protesters gained widespread support and sympathy from residents of Hong Kong, whose return to Chinese rule had been agreed upon just years earlier. Hong Kong supporters helped sustain the protests with donated funds and equipment and, following the crackdown, mobilized to smuggle wanted student leaders out of the country, sometimes with the assistance of organized crime groups known as triads.

The spirit of political activism has now passed to a younger generation, crystalizing in the 2014 Occupy protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, which laid siege to Hong Kong government headquarters and paralyzed the city's financial district for 79 days.

The movement fizzled with no concessions from the Hong Kong government for free elections, and the authorities have since cracked down hard on its leaders, sentencing nine in April on public nuisance and other charges.

More recently, activists, as well as business and legal associations, have protested amendments making it easier to send criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China, where they could face vague national security charges and unfair trials.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been seen as extending his crackdown on civil liberties to Hong Kong, threatening the territory's promised semi-autonomy.

A march against the amendments is scheduled for Sunday ahead of the government's expected push for passage on June 12. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were preparing for a candlelight vigil Tuesday commemorating the 30th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen crackdown, underscoring concern for Chinese human rights in the semi-autonomous territory, even as its own civil liberties are under threat.

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.

The annual evening event at Hong Kong's Victoria Park near the bustling Causeway Bay shopping district is expected to attract tens of thousands of participants.

This year's vigil will feature 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 1989 crackdown, which took place on the night of June 3-4 and is believed to have killed hundreds and possibly thousands of people.

"That statue was crushed by tanks at the June 4 crackdown, the June 4 massacre. So we are rebuilding this here ... to symbolize that we are still continuing to fight for democracy, and continue on the spirit of the '89 democratic protests," said Chow Hang Tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, which organizes the annual vigil.

Visitor Winnie Ma, a 55-year-old church worker, said she brought her 80-year-old mother to the park especially to view the statue on the 30th anniversary.

"I don't know if she will see it vindicated, but I hope that I will be able to," Ma said.

Meanwhile, at the University of Hong Kong, a dozen students laid flower bouquets at the "Pillar of Shame," a sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiot commemorating the crackdown's victims.

"Just because I wasn't born then and never experienced the event, there's no stopping me from reminding others like me of this and carrying on the collective memory," said 18-year-old student Donald Chung.

Students later observed a minute of silence in remembrance of the crackdown's victims before scrubbing the pillar clean in an annual ritual.

Recent years have witnessed a generational divide about how best to memorialize the crackdown, and since 2015, Hong Kong university students have arranged their own commemorations separate from the main candlelight vigil.

"People who attend the vigil consider themselves Chinese. We disagree with this identity," said Jordan Pang, acting chair of the Hong Kong University Students' Union's current affairs committee.

"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," Pang said.

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.

"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," Yuen said.

Thirty years ago, the Tiananmen protesters gained widespread support and sympathy from residents of Hong Kong, whose return to Chinese rule had been agreed upon just years earlier. Hong Kong supporters helped sustain the protests with donated funds and equipment and, following the crackdown, mobilized to smuggle wanted student leaders out of the country, sometimes with the assistance of organized crime groups known as triads.

The spirit of political activism has now passed to a younger generation, crystalizing in the 2014 Occupy protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, which laid siege to Hong Kong government headquarters and paralyzed the city's financial district for 79 days.

The movement fizzled with no concessions from the Hong Kong government for free elections, and the authorities have since cracked down hard on its leaders, sentencing nine in April on public nuisance and other charges.

More recently, activists, as well as business and legal associations, have protested amendments making it easier to send criminal suspects in Hong Kong to mainland China, where they could face vague national security charges and unfair trials.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been seen as extending his crackdown on civil liberties to Hong Kong, threatening the territory's promised semi-autonomy.

A march against the amendments is scheduled for Sunday ahead of the government's expected push for passage on June 12.

The extradition law amendments have put China's chosen Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on the defensive. On Monday, she announced further changes aimed at placating critics.

Asked Tuesday whether she agreed with China's justifications for the army crackdown in 1989, Lam did not answer directly, but said Hong Kong was a "very free society" that upholds the rights and freedoms of individuals.

"So today, if there are public gatherings to express their views and feelings on a particular historic incident, we fully respect those views," Lam said.

Meanwhile in Taiwan, the self-governing island's president, Tsai Ing-wen, took to Facebook to highlight the contrast between her democratically elected government and China's authoritarian communist system.

Tsai said China had shown that it not only had no intention of reflecting on "that year's mistake" but also planned to continue covering up the truth about the 1989 crackdown.

She cited comments Sunday by China's defense minister at a forum in Singapore defending the army's bloody assault on protesters and Beijing citizens, as well as Hong Kong's refusal to allow entry to former student leader Feng Congde.

"Please rest easy, Taiwan will absolutely adhere to democracy, adhere to freedom, regardless of threats or infiltration. As long as I am president for just one day, there is no way Taiwan will yield to pressure," Tsai wrote.

China considers Taiwan its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing has proposed ruling Taiwan under the same "one country, two systems" formula applied to Hong Kong, something the islands voters have overwhelmingly rejected.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Event of the Greens Party in the German Parliament to mark the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre in Berlin

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Hong Kong independence activist said on Tuesday that proposed amendments to the city's legal system that would allow captured fugitives to be sent to China could deal a fatal blow to the territory's judicial independence.

Speaking on the 30th anniversary of China's military crackdown on student-led democracy protests in and around Tiananmen Square, Ray Wong urged democratic countries to up the pressure on the Chinese government to respect human rights.

"This law is the final nail in the coffin," Wong, who was granted refugee status in Germany, told Reuters TV in Berlin. "Because if this law is passed the legal system in Hong Kong will be destroyed. Hong Kong will be just another city in China."

Calls to the Chinese embassy and Hong Kong's Economic and Trade Office in Berlin seeking comment went unanswered.

The legal amendments being pushed by the special administrative region's government mark one of the starkest challenges to Hong Kong's legal system and are increasingly troubling its business, political and diplomatic communities.

The city's independent legal system was guaranteed under the laws governing Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule 22 years ago and is seen by the financial hub's business and diplomatic communities as its strongest remaining asset amid encroachments from Beijing. Hong Kong's extensive autonomy is guaranteed until 2047.

Wong spoke to Reuters before a seminar on human rights in China in the Bundestag lower house on the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, which was marked with a somber candlelight vigil in Hong Kong attended by tens of thousands.

The proposed changes provide for case-by-case extraditions to countries, including mainland China, beyond the 20 states with which Hong Kong already has treaties.

The amendments allow for the chief executive to both seek the arrest of a fugitive and sign off on their extradition once approved by the courts, including any appeals and judicial reviews.

But they also eliminate the oversight roles of the chief executive's cabinet and the city's legislative body, which can currently step in to evaluate extradition arrangements.

Wong is one of two Hong Kong activists facing rioting charges in Hong Kong who have been granted refugee status by Germany. China's Xinhua state news agency on May 25 said Beijing had made "solemn representations" to Germany over its decision, demanding Berlin correct its "mistakes".

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has also expressed "deep regrets and strong objections" to Germany about the case. Hong Kong authorities deny persecuting activists.

Greens parliamentary leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt said German companies doing business in China should become more aware of the country's human rights violations, including the detention of more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in what activists say are mass detention camps.

"German companies are doing business in China very carelessly," she said.

China has faced growing international condemnation for what it calls re-education and training centers in the remote western region of Xinjiang. Some 5,200 German companies are active in China, employing about 1.1 million people, compared with 900 Chinese companies with branches in Europe's largest economy.

"It is our responsibility to ensure that companies that take part in human rights violations and mass surveillance in China are granted no public contracts in Germany," said Goering-Eckardt. "We must sanction human rights violators." </s> Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997, when the British government handed it over the Beijing.

The deal was that it would go on functioning quasi independently under a hybrid system that’s called “One country, two systems”.

So, even if Beijing doesn’t like it, it has to allow these protests, because that was the deal with the UK in 1997, when it signed the “Basic Law,” Hong Kong’s mini constitution, article 27 of which states that “Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to form and join trade unions, and to strike.”

But over the decades, things have been changing.

“Year after year we hear that there is behind-the-scenes pressure from Beijing,” says Claudia Mo, a member of the part of Hong Kong’s legislature that is directly elected.

“They tell the organisers, or people who are close to the organisers to forget about staging the events. But then Hong Kong people stand firm,” and the yearly commemorations take place anyway.

This year, apart from the traditional get-together in Victoria Park, there were kite-flying events, to remember times that people could freely go to Tiananmen Square to fly kites, and a marathon.

But it’s not the 30th anniversary that will attract more people than usual, says Mo.

“We are fighting a Chinese extradition law which is going to put Hong Kong basically under Chinese law,” she says.

“And that goes against Beijing’s “One country, two systems” formula that guarantees Hong Kong’s semi-autonomy.

When London handed Hong Kong back to Beijing in 1997, regulations covering extradition procedures “very purposefully” excluded China, says Mo.

Because people in Hong Kong were fearful that a fair trial was impossible under the Chinese judiciary.

A fear that was deeply installed with the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, which took place less than a decade before Hong Kong would change hands.

“It is supposed to be a safeguard, a firewall against this fear.

“But now the Hong Kong government, obviously at the behest of Beijing, is calling that a loophole in the law. And they try to prop it up. Which means that Hong Kong people could be subject to extradition to China when Beijing wants to,” says Mo.

In practice, this would mean, that anybody who is wanted by Beijing, including foreigners who live in or pass through the territory, may be deported if the Chinese authorities demand it, Mo says.

The Tiananmen commemorations in Hong Kong started at 20:00 local time with a candlelight vigil. The number of those taking part was estimated by organisers at one-hundred and eighty thousand. Police counted 37,000 participants. </s> Hong Kong (CNN) More than 1 million protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong Sunday, organizers said, to oppose a controversial extradition bill that would enable China to extradite fugitives from the city.

The mass of protesters would be the largest demonstration since the city was handed back to China in 1997. Civil Human Rights Front, the group that organized the protests, said 1.03 million people marched -- a figure that accounts for almost one in seven of the city's 7.48 million-strong population.

Hong Kong Police estimated the number of protesters closer to 240,000.

Critics say the bill will leave anyone on Hong Kong soil vulnerable to being grabbed by the Chinese authorities for political reasons or inadvertent business offenses and undermine the city's semi-autonomous legal system.

The bill has caused political gridlock, outcry among the city's usually pro-conservative business community, and even physical scuffles in the city's legislature, as well as criticism of the Hong Kong government by the United States and European Union.

-- such as Taiwan, Macau and mainland China. Lawmakers have said the The government says the bill is designed to plug loopholes in current law by allowing Hong Kong to decide on a case-by-case basis whether or not to send fugitives to territories where it doesn't have formal extradition deals-- such as Taiwan, Macau and mainland China. Lawmakers have said the guarantee of a fair trial will not be written into the bill.

Protesters waved placards and wore white -- the designated color of the rally. "Hong Kong, never give up!" some chanted.

Sunday afternoon, protesters gathered at Victoria Park in central Hong Kong, waving placards and wearing white -- the designated color of the rally. "Hong Kong, never give up!" some chanted.

Other protesters were heard chanting "step down," "shelve the evil law," "anti extradition to China," and called for Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, to step down, as the marchers made their way along the 3-kilometer (1.86-mile) route to the Legislative Council in the Admiralty business district.

At least seven people were arrested, the police posted to Twitter

At around 7:30 p.m. in Hong Kong (7:30 a.m. ET), five to six men with masks planned to occupy a main road in the city, Hong Kong Police said on Twitter.

Police said they used pepper spray on the protesters before they escaped the area. Officers urged protesters to disperse.

The protest was mostly peaceful during the day, but it turned violent overnight, with police trying to clear protesters with batons.

Thousands also gathered to protest the extradition bill in cities across Australia on Sunday. Similar marches were planned in other cities around the world, Hong Kong political group Demosisto said in a statement.

At about 10.30 p.m. (10.30 a.m. ET), organizers announced that the protest had ended. CNN journalists on the ground said the bulk of the protesters had dispersed by then, leaving a number of people milling around the Legislative Council.

Late Sunday, the government of Hong Kong released a statement acknowledging the ongoing protests across the island but reiterating the contested bill is still scheduled to resume debate June 12.

"We urge the Legislative Council to scrutinize the Bill in a calm, reasonable and respectful manner to help ensure Hong Kong remains a safe city for residents and business," it said.

Murder of tourist

The case for the bill was expedited by a grisly murder case in Taiwan, where a 20-year-old Hong Kong woman was allegedly killed by her boyfriend while on holiday there. Currently, the suspect cannot be sent from Hong Kong to face justice in Taiwan.

In #HongKong, scores of protesters - including this family - gather in Victoria Park to take part in a march against the proposed #extradition law. pic.twitter.com/Qc61f6REEk — Kristie Lu Stout✌🏽 (@klustout) June 9, 2019

However, Taipei has already said it will refuse to cooperate with the new law if it puts Taiwanese citizens at risk of being extradited to China. The self-ruled island has previously seen citizens accused of crimes in countries that do not recognize Taiwan diplomatically being handed to Chinese custody , despite objections of Taipei.

Earlier this week, Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, slammed the bill.

"People have known exactly why there shouldn't be an extradition agreement with China for years," Patten said in a video message Thursday. "The argument that it's better to have an extradition treaty than to abduct people illegally from Hong Kong -- are people really supposed to believe that?"

Protesters take part in a rally against the proposed extradition law on April 28, 2019, in Hong Kong.

Last month, representatives from the European Union met with Lam, the chief executive, and expressed concern over the bill. Members of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) have also spoken out against the bill, warning Lam it could "negatively impact the relationship between the United States and Hong Kong."

Unwanted and unneeded?

Business groups in Hong Kong usually take a neutral stance on contentious political issues. But this time they, too, have spoken out against the bill. In a bid to secure their support, the government has limited the scope of extraditable offenses -- but for some that is still not enough.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong warned last week there were "too many uncertainties in fundamental sections of the proposed legislation" for it to be passed in its current form.

"Hong Kong is not ready to see this bill passed and we do not see why it should be rushed through when the loophole it seeks to address has existed for 20 years," the chamber said in a statement.

A woman holds a poster of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, against a proposed extradition law, before a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2019.

But government spokesman Matthew Cheung said the move was time sensitive.

"The suspect in the Taiwan murder case is serving sentences for other criminal offenses in Hong Kong but is expected to be released this October," Cheung said. "There is thus a pressing need to provide a legal basis for the assistance that we want to render to Taiwan, before the (legislature) goes into summer recess from mid-July to October."

Cheung did not address Taipei's concerns over the bill. Separately, Lam said it was "unfounded" to suggest the Hong Kong government "will just follow the instructions given by the Central Government and surrender whatever fugitives that the Central Government wants."

A US State Department spokesperson said Washington is "concerned by the Hong Kong government's proposed amendments to its Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which would allow for individuals to be transferred to mainland China at the request of Communist Party authorities, and is closely monitoring the situation."

"Societies are best served when diverse political views are respected and can be freely expressed," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Continued erosion of the 'One country, Two systems' framework puts at risk Hong Kong's long-established special status in international affairs."

Fierce opposition

The extradition bill, particularly an attempt to fast-track it through Hong Kong's semi-democratic Legislature, has reinvigorated the city's flagging opposition movement after numerous setbacks.

Organizers claimed 130,000 people took part in a protest against the bill in April . While police gave the lower figure of 22,800, it was still the biggest protest since the 2014 Umbrella Movement, an ultimately unsuccessful protest over political reform which shut down parts of the city for months.

Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen A candlelight vigil, held in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Tuesday, remembered the victims of the 1989 massacre in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen The annual candlelight vigil has been taking place in Hong Kong's Victoria Park since 1990. The vigil calls for the release of all dissidents, rehabilitation of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, accountability for the massacre, the end of one-party dictatorship and the start of a democratic China. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen For many who lived in Hong Kong in 1989, the massacre quashed their hopes that a rapidly reforming China would also bring democracy to the city. "Young people in China were demanding democracy," Lee Cheuk-yan, one of the organizers, told CNN in 2017. "We felt that if they made it, it meant Hong Kong would not have to live under an authoritarian regime." The massacre forever changed the character of Hong Kong, Lee said. "In the past we were something of an economic city, but after 1989 we became a political city." Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen While attendance at the annual vigil has fluctuated — with some, particularly younger people, complaining that the focus on democracy in China ignores more pressing demands for reform in the city — key anniversaries have always brought massive numbers to Victoria Park. According to the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, more than 200,000 people attended a commemoration in 2009, and 180,000 came out in 2014 for the 25th anniversary. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen Tens of thousands filled Victoria Park on Tuesday, ignoring sweltering heat and threatening clouds overhead. Most wore black and almost all held candles overhead. The crowd chanted: "Demand accountability for the massacre! End one-party dictatorship! Build a democratic China!" Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen Students at the University of Hong Kong clean the "Pillar of Shame" statue, a memorial for those killed in the 1989 crackdown. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen Students at the University of Hong Kong observe a minute of silence in front of the "Pillar of Shame" statue. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Massive Hong Kong vigil held 30 years after Tiananmen A Chinese paramilitary police officer stands guard in front of Mao Zedong's portrait on Beijing's Tiananmen Gate on Tuesday. Hide Caption 8 of 8

Fears over the bill -- and criticism from a broad swath of Hong Kong society -- echo 2003, when half a million people took to the streets to oppose the passage of an anti-sedition law. That legislation was shelved, but the issue has become such a hot-button topic in Hong Kong that -- despite promising to do so -- no governments since have attempted to introduce it.

Sunday's protest comes days after the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre , a pivotal moment that dashed hopes China would democratize before it took control of Hong Kong in 1997.

Hong Kong has commemorated the massacre with a candlelit vigil ever since, the only place on Chinese soil where mass remembrances are held. Organizers said more than 180,000 people joined a vigil in the city's Victoria Park on Tuesday , the largest such event since the 25th anniversary in 2014, which came in the politically fraught run-up to the Umbrella protests.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of people who participated in protests in Hong Kong on Sunday. The Civil Human Rights Front estimates there were 1.03 million protesters. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — As pro-democracy protests took hold in China in 1989, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of neighboring Hong Kong to show their support.

Associated Press photographer Vincent Yu, just starting his career at the news service, covered the Hong Kong demonstrations, which continued even after a June 3-4 military crackdown at Beijing's Tiananmen Square ended the student-led protests in mainland China.

His images are preserved in black and white prints with typed captions attached, the way he transmitted the photos to AP editors in Tokyo in the pre-internet era. The shots are raucous in the early days, when protesters shouted slogans denouncing hard-line Chinese leaders, and tearful at the end, when they remembered those who had been killed.

Today, with any marking of the Tiananmen crackdown banned in mainland China, it is in Hong Kong where the victims are remembered in an annual candlelight vigil. Citizens of the former British colony, which was returned to China in 1997, have more freedom than mainland Chinese, though some worry those liberties are being eroded.
Tens of thousands of people gather in Hong Kong to mark the 30th anniversary of the crackdown on protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Hong Kong is one of the two places in China where people can openly commemorate the event, the other being Macau, to a lesser extent; elsewhere in China, the authorities have banned and blocked any reference to the crackdown.