Hong Kong: Organisers of Tiananmen Massacre vigil might be removed from Companies Registry

The Hong Kong administration has pursued its suppression of participants who organise the annual Tiananmen Massacre vigil. The officials have suggested that the organisers of the Tiananmen Massacre vigil may be removed from the Companies Registry (government department under the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau) in the near future.  According to the Hong Kong Free Press, the official notification arrived as the 32-year-old group's leaders were held in jail on national security legislation allegations. 

Secretary for Security Chris Tang stated in a letter to vice-chair Chow Hang-tung of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China on Friday that he would ask the Chief Executive in Council to exert their influence to blow off the organisation under the Companies (Winding-Up and Various other Provisions) Legislation.  

More on the organisers removed from the Companies Registry

Carrie Lam, the mayor of the city, and her expert committee have the authority to force the Registrar of Companies to eliminate the organisation from the registry. They might use those powers if they believe that the organisation is responsible for their operations being shut down by the security minister. It will also be applied to those organisations whose registration under the Societies Ordinance is about to be revoked. 

As per ANI, Chris Tang said, “If the 'Hong Kong Alliance' were a society in respect of which the Societies Ordinance applied, it would be necessary in the interests of national security, public safety and public order to prohibit its operation or continued operation under section 8 of that Ordinance."  

The caution remarks of Tang were the most recent step in the group's suppression, which began in 1989. On Friday, the chairman Lee Cheuk-yan and vice-chairmen Albert Ho and Chow of The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China were accused of incitement to insurrection.  

Early developments in Hong Kong

Further, the Tiananmen Square Massacre Museum was searched by Hong Kong national security authorities on Thursday as part of massive suppression of dissent and pro-democracy civil society organisations. The Tiananmen Square Museum commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, which were suspended in early June, barely three days after reopening with a new display.  

The Alliance's leaders were detained on Wednesday after they declined to provide material as part of a national security investigation. As per Hong Kong Free Press report, the arrests were made the morning following they publicly denied a police request for evidence as part of a national security investigation into the 32-year-old group. 

About Pro-democracy activists

Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong used to hold an annual vigil to remember the deaths of the 1989 Beijing student demonstrations, which began on April 15 and ended on June 4 with violent confrontations that lost more than 200 people. Following demonstrations in Hong Kong against Beijing's plans to implement new security laws, the authorities prohibited the vigil for the first time in thirty years in June 2020, claiming the necessity to adhere to coronavirus-related regulations. 

China is ruling Hong Kong with the aid of local officials. Pro-democracy activists have also been targeted and suppressed by authorities. Citizens are experiencing increased police and repression as China tightens its grip on the semi-autonomous regions through many of the regulations which also include the harsh National Security Law. 

(Image: AP)