HONG KONG, May 30 (UPI) -- Some 1,400 people have marched in Hong Kong in an annual protest marking China's June 4, 1989 crackdown on student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
The turnout was the lowest in the 16 years since the crackdown, the South China Morning Post reported Monday. Last year about 5,600 people took part.
Participants in Sunday's protest, organized by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, carried placards and marched peacefully from Victoria Park to the Central Government Offices.
Legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, vice chairman of the alliance, said the aim of this year's rally was to emphasize China's hypocritical attitude about "learning from history," in light of the Beijing government's recent call for Japan to acknowledge and apologize for its crimes against the Chinese in World War II.
"They asked the Japanese government to learn from history, but they themselves have tried to escape from the history of Tiananmen. They have double standards," Lee said.
Activities to commemorate those who died in 1989 are not permitted in the mainland.
A candlelight vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park next Saturday, the anniversary of the crackdown, is expected to attract about 50,000 people, organizers said.
