“Fear not, Hongkongers”, behavior artist San Mu cried out during his arrest on 3 of June 2023. Image from inmediahk.net CC: AT-NC Ahead of the 34th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, the Chinese term “special days” or “special occasion” (特別日子) has kept popping up on social media platforms in Hong Kong, replacing customary political slogans such as “vindication of June 4”（平反六四）, “end single-party rule”（結束一黨專政). The online self-censorship and shifting of political discourse came after Hong Kong’s security chief Chris Tang’s warning that the police authorities would take action against people who plan to harm national security on “a special occasion in a few days.” Artist Lau Yan Hin created a poster to mark the “special occasion”: Art by 劉仁顯 · #特別日子 #六四 #六四事件 #六四屠城 #八九民運 #天安門事件 pic.twitter.com/k6iooMmtXQ — 777文宣傳播稿件大合集 (@hkposter777) June 3, 2023 Art by 劉仁顯 · #SpecialDay #June4th #June4thIncident #June4thMassacre #89DemocracyMovement#TiananmenIncident pic.twitter.com/k6iooMmtXQ — 777文宣傳播稿件大合集 (@hkposter777) June 3, 2023 Hong Kong has banned the traditional candlelight vigil to commemorate Tiananmen crackdown since 2020, citing pandemic control reasons. This year, as all the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been lifted, the police did not issue a straight ban. Yet, the authorities issued a chilling warning of the legal consequence of “harmful acts”, as spelt out by Chris Tang: It will be a special occasion in a few days’ time, many people will use this special occasion to commit acts endangering national security, such as promoting Hong Kong independence and intending to commit subversion…However, I want to tell these people that if you commit these acts, we will definitely take decisive action and arrest you, and will prosecute you if there is evidence. You will not get lucky. Tang did not specify which occasion he referred to or what acts harm national security. After the National Security Law was enacted on 30 June 2020, public expressions challenging authorities have been prosecuted and, in many cases, resulted in guilty jail sentences. These expressions are slogans like “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our Time” and images such as a “black bauhinia flag”. It is obvious that the special occasion refers to June 4. In fact, on the evening of June 3, police authorities arrested several individuals at Causeway Bay: #六四34 警方銅鑼灣帶走至少6人 藝術家三木：香港人唔好驚https://t.co/6gc8mqgm1m pic.twitter.com/U7Ki7SVpTY — inmediahknet (@inmediahk) June 3, 2023 The police authorities arrested six individuals at Causeway Bay, and artist San Mu cried out: Fear not, Hongkongers. Here is a video posted by exiled Hong Kong artist Kacey Wong on one of the arrest scenes: My performance artist friend Chan Mei Tung was taken away by Hong Kong Police last night on June 3rd, it was a tradition for HK artist to perform on the street to commemorate June 4th. As shown in the video she was escorted away to police car without actually doing anything. pic.twitter.com/j5zNB9YK1l — Kacey Wong (@KaceyWong15) June 4, 2023 Causeway Bay is a popular district for busking and street performances in Hong Kong. As the commercial area is near Victoria Park, where the annual candlelight vigil was hosted for over three decades, behavioural artists have had street performances to commemorate the Tiananmen Crackdowns on June 3. They started being threatened with arrests only in the past years. Four people among those arrested are allegedly accused of “behaving in a noisy or disorderly manner in a public place” and “acting with seditious intention”; four others were charged with “breach of peace”. Under the colonial public order ordinance, the police have the authority to prohibit the display at any public gathering of any flag, banner or other emblem if they believe the display would lead to a breach of peace. Hong Kong authorities have started monitoring activists since April and planned a special operation to deter Hongkongers from commemorating June 4th in public. For example, the venue that was traditionally used to host the annual vigil for commemorating the Tiananmen Massacre in Victoria Park, has been reserved by the Chinese state-affiliated Federation of Hong Kong Guangdong Community Organisations for a trade event called “Homeland Market Carnival “from June 3 to 5. Under pressure, local Catholic churches also axed their commemoration mass for a second consecutive year. Even non-public gatherings are flagged as “sensitive”. Three private screenings of a non-political documentary film were forced to cancel their events on June 4, presumably because the organizer is a former pro-democracy District Councillor.