Hong Kong artist who tried to mark Tiananmen massacre with red thread intercepted by police A Hong Kong performance artist’s attempt to honor Tiananmen Square victims with a symbolic red thread was halted by police, underscoring the increasing sensitivity around public commemorations of the 1989 crackdown. The artist, Sanmu Chen, was stopped while tying a 6.4-meter red thread to a street sign, an act he described as expressing condolences. This incident follows previous detentions of Chen for similar acts and reflects a broader trend of silenced dissent in Hong Kong since the imposition of a national security law.

• Performance artist Sanmu Chen was stopped by police in Hong Kong while attempting to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
• Chen tied a red thread, 6.4 meters long, to a street signpost in Causeway Bay as a symbolic gesture of remembrance.
• Public commemorations of the Tiananmen Square killings have become increasingly sensitive in Hong Kong.
• The annual Tiananmen Square vigils, once held in Victoria Park, were banned in 2020.
• Another artist, Chan Mei-tung, was also stopped by police for holding a question-mark-shaped balloon.
• The national security law imposed in 2020 has led to increased silencing of dissent, arrests of activists, and closure of media outlets.
• Three former vigil organizers face charges under the national security law.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on the anniversary, stating that censorship cannot erase the past.