Tiananmen vigil organiser says Hong Kong student group’s departure won’t hurt its mission
The alliance that organises the vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown says the departure of the Federation of Students will not hurt the attendance at its event.
The pro-democracy alliance that organises the annual vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown says the departure of the Federation of Students will not deal a blow to the attendance at its yearly event.
The federation, a student body behind the Occupy movement, decided earlier this month to quit the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movement of China as the federation’s member universities could not reach a consensus agreement to stay in the alliance.
Speaking on a Commercial Radio programme on Tuesday morning, alliance spokesman Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, who is the former vice-chairman of the Democratic Party, said he believed the absence of the federation would not have a significant impact on the alliance.
“There might be a perception that we are splitting after the federation quits,” Tsoi said. But “I don’t think it will affect the turnout at the annual vigil … We would still be seeking ways to allow other representatives from universities to speak on stage during the vigil.”
The 57-year-old federation has been a member of the alliance since it formed in 1989 to support the student pro-democracy movement in Beijing, which ended in a military crackdown.
The federation reviews its membership in the alliance every year and the decision to remain a member has to be made through a consensus between its member universities.
But the federation faced opposition from the student union at Baptist University this year as representatives had reservations about one of the alliance’s slogans: “Build a democratic China”. They were concerned the primary focus was not on a democratic Hong Kong.
The Baptist University student union decided in a referendum last week to disaffiliate from the federation, but the federation’s decision on its participation in the alliance remains in place.
Tsoi said he hoped the federation could review its decision in future and stressed that the alliance would remain focused on striving for democracy in Hong Kong even as one of its goals is to build a democratic China.
“Our focus has never been swayed away from Hong Kong,” Tsoi said. “We have never said we should have a democratic China before having a democratic Hong Kong.”
