Tiananmen Square crackdown divides Hong Kong's protest movement

The emphasis of this year's June 4 night vigil - "Love the country, love the people" - has sparked a row between Hong Kong's veteran democrats and pro-autonomy activists, with the latter claiming that whether the mainland is democratic or not is irrelevant to Hong Kong people.

The annual event, held by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, has kept the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing fresh in Hongkongers' memories for more than 20 years.

Thousands of Hongkongers have attended the vigil for years, calling for vindication for those who died in the crackdown, an end to the country's one-party rule, and for a democratic China. But this year, the focus on the first part of the event's slogan - "Love the country, love the people; Hong Kong spirit" - has overshadowed the rest of the message, which reads: "Vindication of June 4; never give up".

Pro-autonomy activists - led by Dr Horace Chin Wan-kan who published a book two years ago advocating a "city-state" status for Hong Kong - have slammed the alliance for linking patriotism to the notion of a Hong Kong spirit.

Appealing online for Hongkongers to boycott the vigil, they insist that the mainland's political system is irrelevant to the city's democratic movement, and that vindication would only "legitimise" Communist Party rule.