Remembering June 4 in Precarious Position

The June Fourth Museum has updated its exhibition

The June Fourth Museum in Kowloon is facing more pressure from the authorities, now accusing the organizers of the place of running an entertainment venue that it does not have the proper license to do so.

Around 2pm this afternoon, officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department showed up at the museum and left leaving their contacts as those in charge were not there at the time.

The visit from the FEHD officers comes days before the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and the museum displays time lines, items from the historical event, and copies of news reports from that time among others.

Visitors laid flowers in tribute to the victims

"FEHD officers had never paid this place a visit before, and we have held similar exhibitions for 10 years... We still have to look into this, but we can't rule out that political reasons are involved," said Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, the secretary for the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

In response to media inquiries, the FEHD said it has begun enforcement work after an investigation, responding to recent complaints.

The department said licenses were required for entertainment venues that are open to the public -- including those that are admission-free -- and that applies to exhibitions as well.

It said according to the law, no one can keep or use any place of public entertainment without a license.

The timing of this enforcement is interesting... why not sort this out earlier?

Those convicted of not having the proper license can face a fine of up to HK$25,000 and imprisonment for six months, and a further fine of HK$2,000 a day for each day the offense continues.

For now the museum remains open with a steady stream of visitors looking at the newest displays and laying down flowers against a background of Tiananmen Square with the Goddess of Democracy as a tribute to the victims.

Keeping count of attendance to 2019...

Tsoi has also said the group is not going to move the ceremony online on Friday, worried it may find itself in legal troubles and doesn't want to get members of the public in legal cross hairs either.

"We will not even ask people to turn on their lights at a specific time on Friday, but only call on them to commemorate the crackdown with their own ways at the time of their choice," he said.

Instead, Tsoi said, the alliance will only broadcast clips on Friday featuring its statement, and speeches by the Tiananmen Mothers, a group of parents who lost children in the Beijing crackdown 32 years ago.

He said so far about 500 people have made bookings to visit in the coming days. 

"We can understand that some people may have a sense of helplessness under the prevailing political sentiment. But we will continue our work," Tsoi said.

"We are facing huge pressure. But it is not the end of the world. Maybe what we need to do now is to consolidate our strength, instead of having a head-on confrontation [with the authorities]. We trust that Hong Kong people are not giving up June 4 so easily."