Hong Kong detains an artist on the eve of the 35th anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police briefly detained a performance artist on the eve of the 35th anniversary of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown, underlining the city’s shrinking freedom of expression.

Police on Monday took away Sanmu Chen on a street of Causeway Bay, a busy Hong Kong shopping district, close to a park that for decades hosted an annual vigil to mourn the victims of the 1989 crackdown. Before officers approached Chen, he mimed the action of drinking in front of a police van. He also appeared to be drawing or writing something in the air.

Police later said that officers took Chen to a police station because they found him causing chaos at the scene. After an investigation, Chan was released unconditionally, police said.

On the same day last year, Chen was also detained by police around the same area after chanting “Hong Kongers, do not be afraid. Don’t forget tomorrow is June 4.”

For decades, the vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park used to draw thousands of people each June 4 to remember the crackdown, during which government troops opened fire on student-led pro-democracy protesters, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands, dead.

But the vigil has vanished under the shadow of a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. Critics say its disappearance has illustrated that the freedoms promised to be kept intact in Hong Kong for 50 years when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 have been drastically eroded.

After the enactment of the law, the group that organized the vigil disbanded. Three of its former leaders, including activist Chow Hang-tung, were charged with subversion under the sweeping law. Tiananmen-related statues were also removed from universities.

Like last year,