Police surround performance artist in Causeway Bay on eve of Tiananmen crackdown anniversary

A Hong Kong performance artist has been stopped and searched by plainclothes police after showing up in Causeway Bay holding a red string ahead of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary. 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. Sanmu Chan appeared at the intersection of Lockhart Road and East Point Road in Causeway Bay at 4.25pm on Wednesday, one day before the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. HKFP saw Chan holding a red string for around three minutes before he was surrounded by a group of plainclothes police. Police searched him and checked his identity. He was then released and went to buy a can of beer in a convenience store. Performance artist Sanmu Chan in Causeway Bay on June 3, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Chan later told reporters at the scene that the red string was 6.4 metres long. 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. “It’s abnormal that, whenever we are saying or doing something, we are being monitored,” Chan said in Cantonese. He did not comment further on his performance, saying that he left it for others to interpret. Later in the evening, another artist – Chan Mei-tung – was stopped by police nearby. Holding a balloon shaped like a question mark, she was searched and ID’d by officers. In response to HKFP’s enquiries about the two artists, police said that 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 on 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. Vigil site Chan was one of the artists who took part in commemorating the Tiananmen crackdown with performance art in Causeway Bay, when the candlelight vigils took place in Victoria Park. The last vigil was held in 2019. In 2020, Hong Kong authorities denied permission for the annual event, which attracted hundreds of thousands, citing Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Police deployed in Causeway Bay on June 3, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/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 . Since then, police have routinely searched and detained members of the public, activists, and artists on the crackdown’s anniversary or before. Hong Kong artist Sanmu Chan was stopped and searched by police in Causeway Bay on June 3, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. This week, from Wednesday to Sunday, pro-Beijing groups are hosting the fourth edition of an annual patriotic food carnival in Victoria Park. Hong Kong artist Sanmu Chan is stopped and searched in Causeway Bay on June 3, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Chan has appeared in previous years on the eve of the crackdown anniversary. On the evening of June 3, 2024, the artist was stopped, questioned and taken away by police in Causeway Bay, as he sought to take part in performance art. On the evening of June 3, 2023, Chan was apprehended by police on East Point Road. He repeatedly shouted, “Don’t forget June 4,” and “Hongkongers don’t be afraid,” as officers escorted him to a police vehicle.