Over a thousand Christians met in Hong Kong last week to pray for democracy in China before attending a candlelight vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

The prayer meeting was organised by the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission at Victoria Park, where the candlelight vigil was held later. The vigil attracted over 180,000 participants
this year.

At the prayer meeting, Franciscan friar Yeung Yim said that although the Beijing crackdown took place more than two decades ago, Chinese people should not forget the tragedy. He said that God was love, and one of the best ways to respond to God’s calling was to attend the vigil and pray for the victims.

The celebrant of the prayer meeting, Fr Simon Li Chi-yuen, encouraged the faithful to struggle for democracy and freedom.

He also reminded Christians that Tiananmen was not a past event as some of those involved continue to experience political oppression today.

Christian groups in Hong Kong used the anniversary to urge Beijing to investigate the death of Li Wangyang.

Li was a veteran democracy activist who was jailed for 21 years for his involvement in the Tiananmen protests. He died in a hospital in Hunan on 6 June in suspicious circumstances.