But what really invigorated politics in Hong Kong was the brutal crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and in other Chinese cities in 1989. Huge demonstrations took place in Hong Kong to protest the massacre, and massive commemorations of the event are held every June, keeping alive a memory that is repressed and fading in the rest of China.
对大部分香港公民而言，1997年从一个殖民地势力被转交给另一个殖民地势力绝不是一幸福的事。但真正鼓舞了香港政治的是1989年北京天安门事件和其他中国城市发生的事。香港爆发了大规模示威活动反对大屠杀，每年6月香港都要举行大规模纪念仪式，保持在中国其余部分受到压制、正在逝去的鲜活记忆。