Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents yesterday marked the bloody 1989 Tiananmen crackdown with a candle-lit vigil, as agitation against Beijing intensifies in the former British colony.
The annual event came after a week of controversy in Hong Kong as 13 activists were arrested on May 29 after clashing with police in an attempt to erect a "Goddess of Democracy" statue in the Times Square shopping district.
The statue emulated the papier-mache edifice that in 1989 became a symbol of the pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, which were crushed by the army at the cost of hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
In Tokyo, Wu'er Kaixi, one of the best-known student leaders of the Tiananmen protests, was arrested yesterday after entering the Chinese embassy.
Meanwhile the US yesterday urged China to free political activists who have been imprisoned since the deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square exactly 21 years ago.
"We join others in the international community to urge China to release all those still serving sentences for participating in peaceful protests at that time and since," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a statement.
"We ask the Chinese government to provide the fullest possible public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, and to cease harassment of those who participated in the demonstrations and the families of the victims.
"We also encourage China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens, including those who peacefully dissent," he concluded.
The Hong Kong vigil, attended by as many as 150,000 people according to organisers, has become a touchstone for a movement calling for democracy in China and for Beijing to reverse its official verdict condemning the demonstrations as a counter-revolutionary uprising.
A sea of people packed the city's Victoria Park holding candles, singing, chanting and listening to music and short speeches calling for an end to the one-party state in China. Some carried flowers and wore stickers emblazoned with a picture of the democracy statue.
"I still remember," 42-year-old Anson Ng said, with tears welling. "I remember the students, I remember the tanks."
Amy Lai, a clerk who came with her husband, said: "We came to remember Tiananmen Square, of course, but also to support democracy here - that's very important to us."
In central Beijing, black cars marked "special police", each manned with two armed officers wearing helmets and flak jackets, patrolled at regular intervals.
But near the vast square itself, the police presence was far less heavy than for last year's 20th anniversary.
One Beijing taxi driver said he was unaware of the anniversary. "I was 15 at the time but I didn't see much and in the past 21 years no one has really raised the issue," he said, asking not to be named.
"But to be honest, Chinese people don't care about politics, they just care about living."
Hong Kong has a separate legal system from China as part of the deal that returned the former British colony to Chinese rule in 1997 and remains a centre for dissident activity because of its vigorous devotion to free speech.
"This is still a very important event for Hong Kong, China and the world," said Richard Tsoi, vice chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.
"It sends a message to the Chinese government that people won't forget June 4," he said.
Lee Cheuk-yan, a legislator and head of the Confederation of Trade Unions, said the annual event highlighted the city's own political struggle.
Campaigners in Hong Kong are upset at what they say is Chinese interference in the democratic reform process in the wealthy financial hub, where elections are skewed in favour of pro-Beijing business elites.