HONG KONG/TAIPEI -- For 30 years, Hong Kong has kept the flame of mourning alive for the protesters killed in central Beijing in 1989. Even after the 1997 handover of sovereignty to China, which has gone to great lengths to expunge the military suppression from history, the city continued to hold candlelight vigils to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown every June 4.
This year, the memorial is scheduled to go ahead as usual in Victoria Park. But Hong Kong is rapidly losing its status as an enclave for promoting democracy and human rights -- and the world is beginning to reckon with its failure to hold Beijing accountable three decades ago.
