My Take | Why Beijing wants June 4 vigil to go on

When Hong Kong was returned to the motherland, many pundits both in Hong Kong and outside thought the authorities would quickly put an end to the annual June 4 vigil. That didn't happen.

Even today, you can read foreign media's description and explanation of the special status of Hong Kong as the only place in China that can commemorate the bloody crackdown.

After so many years, I am beginning to think authorities on both sides of the border not only tolerate but actually encourage the commemoration, now more than ever. Some may actually take comfort in the annual event.

If this sounds absurd to you, let me try this. Beijing is less worried about patriotic democrats than those young vocal nativists or localists who don't care about China and want nothing to do with it. That's because such sentiments are conducive to independence, and there is probably no political movement that provokes Beijing's paranoia more, even if it lacks public support.

June 4 is a symbol of Chinese democratic nationalism. From Beijing's point of view, those Hong Kong people who take part in it still care about China and believe in their national identity as Chinese. Their demand for vindication of the martyrs and victims of the crackdown tacitly recognises the central government as the only legitimate authority that may revise the historical judgment.

Not so the nativists or localists. For the first time, several university student unions have withdrawn from the June 4 vigil, saying they no longer share the vigil's goal of a democratic China.