Thousands of people in Hong Kong are expected to attend a candlelight vigil for victims of the Chinese government's brutal military crackdown nearly three decades ago on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

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Sunday night's (4 June) gathering in downtown Victoria Park is an annual affair that regularly draws tens of thousands. It's the only large-scale commemoration on Chinese territory of the bloodshed 28 years ago.

Commemoration of the Tiananmen events remains taboo in mainland China. However it is openly discussed in Hong Kong, a special Chinese region with much autonomy.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed protesters and onlookers were killed late on June 3 and the early hours of June 4, 1989, after China's communist leaders ordered the military to retake Tiananmen Square from the student-led demonstrators.

The Tiananmen protests are perhaps best remembered for the iconic "tank man" photo, of a single protester standing up in front of an armed military vehicle. His fate is unknown.

tiananmen square hong kong
A student wearing a T-shirt with the date of the massacre written on it prepares to sing to commemorate the anniversary AFP
Hong Kong