Hong Kong Artist's Tiananmen Tribute Halted by Police Amidst Shrinking Freedoms
A performance artist in Hong Kong, Sanmu Chen, attempted to honor the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown by tying a symbolic red thread to a street signpost in Causeway Bay. This act was quickly intercepted by plainclothes police, highlighting the diminishing freedom of expression in the city. The red thread, measuring 6.4 meters, was a reference to the date of the crackdown, June 4. Chen has faced police action in the past for similar acts of remembrance. The annual vigils in Hong Kong, which were banned in 2020, were the only large-scale public commemorations of the Tiananmen Square events in China. The crackdown remains a sensitive topic in China, and recent years have seen increased suppression of dissent in Hong Kong, including the arrest of activists and the closure of media outlets. 
