in 1989, the sudden death of the former general secretary of the communist party of china (cpc) hu yaobang, widely considered a liberal figure within the party leadership, sparked a series of protests at the tiananmen square. the hong kong federation of students (fhks) visited the in beijing student protesters and mobilised for the support of the hong kong society after they returned to hong kong. on 20 may 1989 after premier li peng imposed the martial law, the joint committee on the promotion of democratic government (jcpdg), an umbrella organisation of the local pro-democracy activists decided to hold a demonstration at the victoria park and marched to the headquarters of new china news agency (ncna). on 21 may during the no. 8 typhoon signal, more than a million people marched in the street in support of the tiananmen protests. the hong kong alliance in support of patriotic democratic movements of china was founded during the march.