Hong Kong police stop another performance artist on eve of Tiananmen crackdown anniversary

Another Hong Kong performance artist has been stopped and searched by plainclothes police after showing up in Causeway Bay on the eve of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary. Artist Chan Mei-tung was stopped and searched by police after appearing in Causeway Bay with a question mark-shaped balloon on June 3, 2026 – the eve of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Artist Chan Mei-tung appeared with balloons – one shaped like a golden question mark – at around 7:18pm near SOGO department store. The store is near Victoria Park, once the site of vigils to remember the 1989 dead. Artist Chan Mei-tung was stopped and searched by police after appearing in Causeway Bay with a question mark-shaped balloon on June 3, 2026 – the eve of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Police demanded to see her ID card and searched her. When asked by reporters what the balloon represented, Chan said it was for a “proposal.” Police then escorted her to the nearby MTR station, where she destroyed the balloon after police told her they were banned on the metro system. Artist Chan Mei-tung was stopped and searched by police after appearing in Causeway Bay with a question mark-shaped balloon on June 3, 2026 – the eve of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Earlier in the evening, fellow performance artist Sanmu Chan was stopped and searched by plainclothes police after showing up in Causeway Bay . Chan later told reporters that he was displaying a piece of red string that was 6.4 metres long. The figure appears to be a nod to the date of the crackdown. “It’s abnormal that, whenever we are saying or doing something, we are being monitored,” he said in Cantonese. Performance artist Sanmu Chan holds a piece of red string measuring 6.4 metres in Causeway Bay on June 3, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing. In response to HKFP’s enquiries about the two artists, police said officers patrolling East Point Road and Lockhart Road spotted a man and a woman loitering in the area. Officers approached them to understand the situation, and both individuals subsequently left of their own accord. They did not respond as to whether paying tribute to the 1989 dead was legal, but said that any enforcement action is handled lawfully, based on actual circumstances. Operational deployments are made appropriately in response to potential threats to national security, public safety, and public order, they added. Mass vigils replaced by patriotic fair The mass candlelit vigils have not been officially held in Victoria Park since 2019. In 2020, Hong Kong authorities denied permission for the annual event, which typically attracted hundreds of thousands, citing Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. The Tiananmen crackdown vigil in 2016. File Photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP. After Beijing imposed the national security law on June 30, 2020, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the annual event, was disbanded. The group’s key leaders are now facing a national security trial . A week-long patriotic food carnival is held in Victoria Park on June 3, 2026. The park was once the site of vigils to remember those killed in the Tiananmen crackdown. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Since then, police have routinely searched and detained members of the public, activists, and artists on the crackdown’s anniversary and before. This week, from Tuesday to Sunday, pro-Beijing groups are hosting the fourth edition of an annual patriotic food carnival in Victoria Park. Hong Kong performance artist Chan Mei-tung is stopped by plainclothes police officers on June 3, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Last year, Chan Mei-tung was stopped and searched by police after chewing gum in the same area , at the same time.