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JUN 11 - JUN 17, 2021 |
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Police crowd control citizens as they gathered in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong on June 4, 2021, after the government closed a venue where Hong Kong people traditionally gather annually to mourn the victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. (Image: ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images)
Hong Kong
Deployed 3,000 Police to Block Tiananmen Memorials but People Have Their Ways By Jacqueline Chung Vision Times
H
ong Kong, once the only free city in China, has not stopped commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre in a peaceful manner for more than 30 years. After the government banned the annual candlelight vigil last year using the pandemic as a pretext, over 3,000 police officers have been deployed this year and advocates were arrested. However, that did not stop the people of Hong Kong from preserving the truth in their own way.
Memorial activities blocked by the government
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported that on June 4 this year, authorities mobilized thousands of police officers to set up roadblocks to check vehicles in the main roads and crossharbor tunnels. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (the “Alliance”) has been organizing candlelight vigils in Victoria Park for 30 consecutive years. In 2020, the Hong Kong government for the first time banned people from
entering the park to participate in the vigil on the grounds of the pandemic, but a large number of people ignored the ban and joined in the protests. This year, however, Victoria Park was empty for the first time in 32 years due to the heavy police lockdown. The Alliance earlier applied to hold a “Remember June 4 Rally” on May 30 and a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park on June 4, but were refused by the police. The Appeal Board of Public Meetings and Processions rejected the Alliance’s appeal on May 29, citing the pandemic and the restriction on gathering. Considering the safety of participants, the Alliance then announced that it would cancel the event, but call on the public to mourn in their own ways and in a safe and peaceful manner. The June 4th Museum, which was closed due to continuous harassment and vandalism, was reopened by the Alliance after the vigil was rejected. However, three days later, the Hong Kong government sent officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department that accused the museum of violating the Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance.
(Image: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)
Hong Kong people have their ways
P
eople hold up their phones with the light as they walk near Victoria Park after police closed the venue where Hong Kong people traditionally gather annually to mourn the victims of the Chinese Communist Party’s 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre in the Causeway Bay district on June 4, 2021 .
In recent years, the Hong Kong government has become more and more inclined to Beijing, and after the CCP’s override of Hong Kong’s legislative system to enact the National Security Law last year, Hong Kong’s government has been doing more and more to curry favor with the mainland regime. In the face of strong repression, the people of Hong Kong are still trying to find ways to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre. On June 4 of this year, people
dressed in black, stood with candles in their hands in Mong Kok, Causeway Bay and other busy streets. Civil society organizations volunteered to distribute candles in many communities. At least seven Catholic churches have set up “memorial masses” with live webcasts. Some people climbed the Lion Rock, the symbol of the spirit of Hong Kong, and Tai Mo Shan, the highest mountain in Hong Kong, to display slogans about not forgetting June 4 and pursuing democracy in Hong Kong.
Google’s Reliance on Wikipedia Helps Communist Party Spread South China Sea Disinformation By Neil Campbell Vision Times
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June 3 post on social marketing website Reddit’s Wikipedia section revealed Google pulled Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Foreign Affairs Ministry propaganda about ownership of the South China Sea from Wikipedia as if it were factual. The results were displayed on the engine’s Featured Snippet function in response to questions about whether the CCP owns the South China Sea. In a now-removed post on the r/Wikipedia subreddit, a user posted a screenshot of Google results from the question “Does the South China subscription@visiontimes.com
Sea belong to China?” Google’s top response was “China enjoys indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea and the island. China’s stand is based on historical facts and international law. China’s sovereign rights and positions are formed in the course of history and this position has been held by Chinese Government for long…” The case was reported to the subreddit because the author of the now-removed post was concerned about “Wikipedia entries being distorted for propagandistic purposes” and asked “How can this be resolved?” The quote in question came from
a portion of the South China Sea Wikipedia entry where Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu made the claims, laden with Communist Party establishment rhetoric, in reference to a deal between an Indian and a Vietnamese oil company that involved the Sea. As a result of the
Reddit controversy, the Wikipedia entry was scrubbed of Jiang’s rhetorical comments. Google’s Featured Snippet for the question of the South China Sea now references an “Explainer” from website The Conversation, which states, more sanitarily, “China’s claim to the sea is based both on
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia
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VISION TIMES
the Law of the Sea Convention and its so-called ‘ninedash’ line. This line extends for 2,000 kilometers from the Chinese mainland, encompassing over half of the sea. … This concept is important: it means that by definition, the South China Sea is a shared maritime space.” r/Wikipedia moderator “Hands” removed the 801-upvote post, claiming a rule violation because Reddit is “not your personal army,” adding “yes this kind of post encourages people to edit this article as evidenced by the fact that blockquote is already gone.” The removal of a highlyupvoted and trending post, most notably, prevented it
from appearing in prominent user page sortings such as r/All, reducing the traction the story would receive. In an article for Breitbart, former Wikipedia editor who was banned from the platform, T.D. Adler, an author who now posts under a pseudonym due to cancel culture and online harassment, said “Problems with Google search results prominently repeating biased or false information due to its reliance on Wikipedia are not new.” “Google regularly prioritizes information from the online encyclopedia and it has sometimes spread false or inflammatory attacks due to vandalism. This has included incidents affecting Google’s knowledge panels, which are often displayed in the sidebar of search results and use the introduction of Wikipedia articles.” 212-730-6962
