As China tightens its control over Hong Kong, activists in the city defied a police ban and broke through barricades Thursday evening to mark the 31st anniversary of the crushing of a democracy movement centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
With democracy all but snuffed out in mainland China, the focus has shifted increasingly to semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where authorities for the first time banned an annual candlelight vigil marking the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown.
Police cited the need for social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak and barricaded sprawling Victoria Park to prevent people from gathering there. Beijing is taking a tougher stance following months of anti-government protests last year, in what activists see as an accelerating erosion of the city's rights and liberties.