Pro-Beijing politicians warned that certain slogans habitually chanted by attendees on previous occasions, such as "end one-party rule", may violate the national security legislation,[6] although legal experts have said that gatherings and mournings alone would not breach the law.

[7] For the past 30 years, 4 June has been a grand occasion in Hong Kong as one of very few places on Chinese soil permitting memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests; vigils were typically attended by tens of thousands of Hongkongers.

[9][12] A ban under similar pretenses also occurred in Macau, another region on Chinese soil that had previously hosted public memorials, and continued in 2021, openly citing political grounds.

Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, deferred to the decision as a law-enforcement issue that had withstood legal challenge, refusing to elaborate on the double standard.

[15] Pro-Beijing lawmaker and lawyer Paul Tse believes the government should be honest with the public, that the vigil was banned not only because of the pandemic as has been claimed, but because of national security concerns.

[19] According to the police, members of the public, particularly those dressed in black, going near Victoria Park could be considered to be taking part in an illegal assembly if they chant slogans or light candles.

[3] Tiananmen Mothers, 62 of whose members have died since 1989, decried the fact that younger Chinese had "grown up in a false sense of prosperous jubilance and enforced glorification of the government (and) have no idea of, or refuse to believe, what happened on 4 June 1989, in the nation's capital".

Lee Cheuk-yan, Chairman of the Alliance, wrote a Facebook message from his jail cell on the eve of the anniversary expressing the hope that "everyone can find your own way to light a candle by the window, on the road, wherever that can be seen by others, to continue our mourning”.

[4] Chow Hang-tung, vice-chairman of the Alliance, stated on social media that she planned to go to Victoria Park in a personal capacity to light a candle for the victims.

[18] Artist Kacey Wong, who has amassed a collection of hundreds of spent candles from previous vigils, planned to redistribute them to the people of Hong Kong so they can preserve them and perpetuate the memory of those who perished.

[24] Under rules put in place since the arrival of a new government-appointed director, programming at RTHK has cut back or cancelled at least 10 programmes – including a segment about the Tiananmen anniversary that had aired the week before – and deleted entire online archives.

[27] The press reported that a street-stand run by the Alliance in Kwai Chung received particular attention from police officers on 29 May while activists were distributing pamphlets and electronic candles.

[29] On the morning of 4 June, barrister Chow Hang-tung, who co-chairs the Alliance, was arrested after she posted on social media urging people to commemorate the event privately by lighting a candle wherever they were.

[30] She said that the police made an "unjust and preventive arrest ... obviously aimed at stopping me from physically going to Victoria Park and frightening other people from doing the same or even approaching Causeway Bay".

[30] Six former foreign secretaries – Malcolm Rifkind, Margaret Beckett, William Hague, Jack Straw, David Miliband, and David Owen – wrote an open letter urging prime minister Boris Johnson to recognise the need for the United Kingdom's leadership in light of the deteriorating human rights situation in Hong Kong, and to "ensure that the crisis in Hong Kong is on the agenda" at the G7 leaders' summit in Cornwall.

[31] A vigil organised by a coalition of 30 NGOs and civil society groups in Taiwan created a light display that read "8964 32" in Taipei's Liberty Square.

Speakers included former Tiananmen student leaders Wu'erkaixi and Zhou Fengsuo, exiled artist Badiucao, and former Hong Kong legislator Nathan Law.

The company said it had responded to a notification from the Hong Kong Police who said that it was "likely to constitute offences endangering national security", and that failure to do so could result in a fine and six months in prison.

[37] Microsoft Bing was caught up in censorship controversy after Google analyst Shane Huntley found no search results for Tank Man when using the engine, affecting users around the world.

Catholic churches in Hong Kong cancelled the Mass for the Tiananmen victims for the first time because the diocese held concerns about violating the national security law.

Six were arrested:[47] Yu Wai-pan, Chan Po-ying, Dickson Chau Ka-Faat, Lau San-ching, and two other members of the League of Social Democrats (LSD) party.