Intense Repression during the June 4 Season of 2025 in Hong Kong
#16 in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor Series
The Hong Kong Repression Monitor series provides overviews of indicators of repression in Hong Kong, based on research and data collected from 2019 to the present. For more information, see the introduction, which also has a full list of entries in the series as they are published.
This article is #16 in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor series. It is a continuation of a previous article that documents persecution of Hong Kongers commemorating June 4 in the years 2020 to 2024.
The June 4 season of 2025 in Hong Kong has been a continuation of the repression of Hong Kongers attempting to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre that we have seen in the five previous years from 2020 to 2024 as well as a period of intense repression in its own right with a number of arrests ostensibly unrelated to June 4 but closely connected in terms of the regime’s overall strategy of repression.
For the sixth year in a row, the traditional candlelight vigil in Victoria Park was banned as was any other form of public commemoration. A huge presence of hundreds of police officers, numbering in the hundreds, blankets the park and neighboring Causeway Bay. In addition to suffocating any show of dissent in that geographical area, police and other government agencies also visited and “inspected” the shops of former pro-democracy District Councillors, as they have done in past years.
The number of arrests and detentions was slightly down on previous years.
Police said two people were arrested for “behaving suspiciously” and 10 taken away to police stations for “further investigation on suspicion of breaching the peace.”
According to my observations, three people were apprehended by police and escorted to the MTR station; one apprehended and escorted to “a private car arranged by police;” and ten taken to police vans. In addition, two were reported to have been apprehended and taken to police stations.
There were also five political arrests on June 3 and four on June 4 which were superficially unrelated to June 4, but their timing suggests that they were part of the larger strategy for repression. Then, on June 6, Joshua Wong, one of the most prominent pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong, was arrested in prison for “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the national security law for “crimes” supposedly committed from July 1 (the first full day the NSL was in effect) to November 23, 2020—nearly five years ago.
If these arrests are included in the count for the June 4 season, then the numbers rise to 12 arrests and 10 detentions, bringing the numbers close to what they have been in previous years.
Indeed, the 12 arrests from June 3 to 6 represent more than 50 percent of the 20 political arrests in all of 2025 so far.
Put all of this together—the arrests, detentions and various other repressive actions around June 4 plus the arrests on June 3, 4, and 6 that outwardly are not related to June 4—and this has been an intensely repressive June 4 season.
While focusing on the repression, it is also important to emphasize that Hong Kongers still managed to find ways to express themselves. After six years of intense repression, Hong Kong is a beleaguered society, yet still, somehow, Hong Kongers find a way.
Police actions this year show that the police are continually adapting and tweaking their tactics, which include the following:
actions taken in the days leading up to June 4 to dissuade and intimidate people against going out;
targeting of shops belonging to former pro-democracy District Councillors that they regard as “bases of resistance,” usually because they are displaying items related to June 4 or giving away or selling candles;
blanketing of areas related to June 4, Victoria Park and Causeway Bay in particular, and snuffing out as quickly as possible any sign of commemoration.
In general, police try to keep actual arrests to a minimum, preferring pre-emptive, preventive detention.
Below is a timeline of events and incidents beginning before June 4 and running through to June 6. Its purpose is to illustrate the dynamics described in the above paragraphs: on the one hand, people’s ceaseless persistence, and, on the other, the police’s crackdown. The international media paid almost no attention to June 4 in Hong Kong this year: in their eyes, except for Joshua’s arrest on the 6th, there were no big or particularly newsworthy events. But if you pay attention, an extraordinary drama unfolds that depicts the tensions between state and citizens as the Chinese Communist Party drives Hong Kong ever deeper into the authoritarian darkness.
June 2
One anonymous person who was ID’ed by police on June 4 the previous year says he was contacted by police in the week before and asked about his plans for June 4 this year.
League of Social Democrats vice-chair Dickson Chau Ka-fat says he was also recently contacted by “powerful departments” and asked about his June 4 plans. He says that according to what he knows, at least ten people were similarly contacted, most of them political party members or volunteers. He says that although there have been similar practices in the past, this year the number of people affected appears to have increased. (League of Social Democrats is the only pro-democracy political party still active in Hong Kong, and it has been targeted for constant persecution.)
June 3
The National Security Department (the official name of the national security police) announces the arrests of one man and four women for making bomb threats (that were apparently false) and promoting Hong Kong and Taiwan independence. The man was arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy to commit terrorist acts,” charged on June 4 with four counts of “bomb hoax,” and remanded in custody, becoming Hong Kong’s 1,932nd political prisoner since June 9, 2019.
Superficially, the acts of which the suspects are accused have nothing to do with June 4 commemoration, but the arrests, with the police’s emphasis on “promoting independence,” are obviously political, and the timing of the police’s actions suggests they wish to cast a pall over June 4. The year before, in the lead-up to June 4, police arrested political prisoner Chow Hang-tung and seven others for posts on Facebook that were messages from her about June 4 commemoration in Hong Kong in the past. None of those people have been prosecuted.
News emerges that the owner of a sports car with license plate number US 8964 has sent the car outside of Hong Kong after he and family members received letters from unknown individuals containing personal information, photos of the car, and accusations that he may have violated the national security law. In previous years, the car could be seen driving through Causeway Bay on June 4.
2:50 pm: Hunter Bookstore is visited by an officer of the Fire Facilities Supervision Division of the Fire Department who says a “concerned citizen has made a lot of complaints about the bookstore.” The officer later tells a reporter it is a routine inspection. Hunter Bookstore has been a prominent independent bookstore that has held independent book fairs. Its proprietor is Leticia Wong, a former pro-democracy District Councillor. It has faced many similar “inspections.” Since May 31, it has exhibited out-of-print books related to June 4 and offered “VIIV” candles to patrons, the probable reason for the inspector’s visit. On its door is a sign reading, “In bad times, remember to look fear in the face.”
3 pm: Two people suspected of being plainclothes police officers visit As One store, walk around for a few minutes, and then left. As One is run by former pro-democracy District Councillor Derek Chu. The store recently advertised that it would light candles on June 4 and also offer candles to customers. Police will come back in force the next day. Like independent media outlets, it has recently been targeted by the Inland Revenue Department (Hong Kong’s tax authority) over alleged back taxes owed. Police have also visited As One in previous years in the lead-up to and on the day of June 4.
4:40 pm: Performance artist Chan Mei-tung is apprehended by police on East Point Road in Causeway Bay as she is standing in front of a building chewing gum. Eventually, she’s forced to leave, escorted to a nearby MTR station. (Video of the incident.) Chan was also detained [LINK} in Causeway Bay in both 2023 and 2024 (and will be again the next day—see below).
7:30 to 11:40: The incense shop of former pro-democracy District Councillor Katrina Chan is raided by customs officers for four hours. People suspected of being plainclothes police officers lurk at the perimeter. The customs officers inform Chan that her shop, Heung Together, is suspected of violating product safety regulations. She previously advertised “memory” candles for sale for HK$6.4 each. This is the likely real reason for the raid. A wide variety of shops, in particular independent bookstores and stores run by former pro-democracy leaders, as well as independent media outlets and journalists have been targeted for “inspections” of this kind by many different government agencies. Chan recently released a statement documenting other forms of persecution targeting her, unusual because more often than not people keep quiet about such repression for fear of reprisal.
June 4
Police are so concerned with clamping down on expression that they even camp out on the iconic Lion Rock, where in the past pro-democracy activists unfurled banners, shone beacon lights, and even brought the Lady Liberty statue. On June 3, a plane of the Flying Service Team was seen delivering equipment. It appears two police officers spent the night of June 3 to 4 there and are remaining there throughout June 4.
Shortly before 3 pm, the first person to be apprehended on June 4 is 89-year-old Benedict Ng, often referred to as “Uncle Ng,” well-known for having continued to protest in Mong Kok together with other older people long after the 2014 Umbrella Movement ended. In Causeway Bay, he holds a placard with a quote apocryphally attributed to Gorbachev: "State crime is the root of all crime. If the ruling party has no opponents, there is no need for competition for power. Power then is not checked, and so there is no freedom of speech, corruption is not exposed, and crimes are not punished. Legislation is fraud, governance is robbery, justice is crime, power is a weapon, subordinates are slaves, state-owned enterprises are bandits who rob people's wealth, and banks are ATMs for those in power." He is told by a police officer to put this away because it “disturbs the peace.” He is then searched for fifteen minutes and escorted to the MTR station.
4:28 pm: Veteran activist Lui Yuk-lin is intercepted while exiting Causeway Bay MTR station and is taken to police van.
4:30 pm: A man dressed in black sits on a bench near the fountain in Victoria Park. He takes out an electric candle and holds it in his two hands. Police surround him, set a wide cordon, and question him. He films them with his phone and is taken to a police van.
One woman was eating a banana in the rain in Victoria Park. She was stop&searched and IDed by police. After, she said, "What's wrong with eating bananas? Can't I eat a banana?… Eating bananas is eating bananas. I came to Victoria Park to eat bananas… It takes 36 minutes to finish a banana. Old people have indigestion, so they need more time."
From 5 pm: Nearly 20 police officers and two police vans are stationed at the entrance to the Cape of Good Hope Building in Mong Kok where the As One shop (see above) of pro-democracy District Councillor Derek Chu is located. Police stop&search some who enter and requir them to show their IDs. Inside, Derek Chu has lit his electric candles.
6 pm: An older woman holding a small white flower is apprehended by police in Causeway Bay and brought to the MTR station.
In the evening, well-known businessman and flamboyant dresser Lau Ting-sing is stopped by police in Causeway Bay and escorted away.
7 pm: League of Social Democrats chair Chan Po-ying is surrounded by more than 20 plainclothes police officers as she steps off a bus in Causeway Bay. She is carrying yellow paper flowers. She is brought to Wan Chai police station and released around 9 pm. (She was also detained on June 4, 2023.) She is swept away so quickly that the media don’t even have a chance to notice, and most only become aware of the incident after LSD posts notice on social media.
7 pm: Four young women, in two pairs, are apprehended in Victoria Park. They have bouquets of flowers. Two are wearing secondary school uniforms. (Later, the police reveal that the youngest age of those brought to police stations is 15.) They are all taken to police vans. (More video)
In the evening, a man stands silently in Victoria Park with bowed head. He is taken to a police van. He is wearing a Lajee Celtic jersey, the shirt of a soccer team comprised of displaced Palestinian refugees.
Performance artist Chan Mei-tung is apprehended as she attempts to enter Victoria Park. She claims she is on her way to the Victoria Park swimming pool to go swimming. She is taken to a police van. The day before, June 3, she was chewing gum in Causeway Bay and the police escorted her to the MTR station (see above).
8:30 pm: A man wearing a white Hong Kong Alliance t-shirt that says “Vindicate June 4” is apprehended in Victoria Park and taken to a police van. The t-shirt was worn by runners in the annual June 4 run that Hong Kong Alliance held at the end of every April, kicking off the season of June 4 events. Every year, runners would run the number of kilometers equal to the number of years since June 4 (so, if the event were still held, this year it would be 36 km).
8:43 pm: A man dressed in black, wearing headphones that says “Go, Hong Kong!”, and leading a dog on a leash is apprehended in Causeway Bay. The dog is wearing a harness that says “persist.” Both he and the dog are taken away to a police van.
9 pm: A young man in a t-shirt listing “core socialist values” is dragged away by police in Victoria Park. In 2024, he was manhandled by park security guards, an incident he refers to when shouting at police in the video below, “Last year I had a book and was detained at the police station for ten hours for it.” He’s brought to the Victoria Park tennis courts and then, eventually, to “a private car arranged by police.”
9 pm: League of Social Democrats vice-chair Yu Wai-pan is apprehended by police on East Point Road in Causeway Bay as he is making his way to Victoria Park. He is taken to Wan Chai police station and released around 11 pm. As with the detention of LSD chair Chan Po-ying (see above), most only become aware of this from LSD’s social media posts.
On June 5 comes the news that four Lingnan University student union leaders, both current and former, were arrested on June 4 for allegedly embezzling HK$1.3 million in union funds.
It is unclear whether the arrests are political, but it is indisputable that Hong Kong authorities, including university administrations, have relentlessly persecuted student unions since 2019, and virtually all university student unions are now defunct or moribund. The timing of the arrests, on June 4, is eye-raising, to say the least.
On June 6, the four student union leaders are released on bail pending investigation (ie, not charged, at least for the time being) after about 40 hours in custody.
June 6
On Saturday, May 31, political prisoner and former leader of Hong Kong Alliance—the group that organized the annual June 4 candlelight vigil—, Chow Hang-tung announced she would go on a 36-hour hunger strike during June 4.
Just the previous year, Chow and seven others had been arrested for “sedition” for posts on her Facebook account made over the course of May that were about Hong Kong’s long history of commemorating June 4.
On June 6, another post appears on Chow’s Patreon account reporting that she has been punished for her hunger strike by being sent to solitary confinement: “Of course, this June was no exception: during my 36-hour hunger strike for 4 June, I was penalised and placed in the solitary confinement cell ("water and rice cell"). There was just me with one bed and one song - "Freedom Flower" that I would like to dedicate to the Tiananmen Mothers, to Li Wangyang, our fellow brothers, sisters and their families. May there be peace and freedom. 🙏🏼” She includes a drawing that takes a jab at police for treating candles like weapons:
Then, only a few hours later, the news emerges that Joshua Wong has been arrested in prison for “colluding with foreign forces” under the national security law from July 1 to November 23, 2025—five years ago— and money laundering. He’s brought to court the same day and charged with collusion. He’s currently serving a sentence of four years and eight months in prison for “conspiracy to subvert state power” under the national security law for taking part as a candidate in the pro-democracy primary election of July 2020 and is projected to be released in January 2027. This new charge appears to be designed to keep him in prison for good. Its timing, only two days after June 4, is significant and signals the Chinese Communist Party’s confidence that it can get away with whatever it wants in Hong Kong these days.
As we come up on the fifth anniversary of the imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong by the CCP on June 30, 2020, Joshua’s is the 354th arrest for “endangering national security” under the panoply of national-security-related laws, the old sedition law, the 2020 national security law, and the 2024 national security law enacted by the Hong Kong government.
I’ll end here with Claudia Mo’s June 4 Facebook post. Mo was released from prison on April 29 after serving four years and two months for “conspiracy to subvert state power” for taking part in a pro-democracy primary election in July 2020. She was among the first four to be released. Since she got out, she has occasionally made social media posts and has appeared in public once.
