HONG KONG: Police arrested four people in Hong Kong for “seditious” acts and “disorderly conduct” on Saturday, on the eve of the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Around the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay on Saturday, reporters witnessed police bundling several performance artists — some of whom appeared to be doing nothing — into police vans.

Late on Saturday evening, the police said four people had been arrested “for disorderly conduct in a public place” and “doing acts with seditious intent”.

Four others were suspected of “breaching the peace” and were detained “to assist with the investigation,” the police said on its official Facebook page. They did not name the people arrested and detained.

Earlier, artist Sanmu Chen had repeatedly chanted “Don’t forget June 4! Hong Kong people, don’t be afraid of them!” at a bustling Causeway Bay street. An officer shouted at him to “stop doing seditious acts” before authorities bundled him into a police bus. Another well-known performance artist Chan Mei-tung was also taken away, with police refusing to provide the reason for her detention.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2023