VICTORIA PARK, Hong Kong – Already 22 years have passed since one of the most deplorable incidents in China's history. On June 4, 1989, People's Liberation Army soldiers in Beijing began a crackdown that killed or injured thousands of innocent citizens. Falling foremost among the victims were student protesters who courageously had demanded better government and less corruption.

For reasons of conscience, principled people insist on remembering “the Beijing Massacre” and continuing to honor and mourn the young people who died. No matter what the many selectively forgetful, pro-Beijing apologists say, it was a deplorable “massacre". Soldiers killed their countrymen, the very folks they should have protected. Only disingenuous people try to rewrite history in futile efforts to turn wrong into right.

National leaders – both the ones who ordered the brutal crackdown and those who followed – surely hoped that by now most people would have forgotten what happened and why. But when it comes to sinister crimes against humanity, whether committed by Osama bin Laden or by national leaders in Beijing, the world refuses to forget.

How could we forget anyhow? Beijing constantly reminds us by reacting with intolerance and prison terms for Chinese citizens who dare to oppose misguided policies and official misdeeds. We hardly even need to mention the names of modern victims like Ai Weiwei, Liu Xiaobo and many more.

Recently, Chinese leaders hosted and shook hands with their visiting counterparts from North Korea and Burma, easily Asia's most repressive and brutal regimes. There's a relevant expression about “birds of a feather flocking together".

Despite diligent hand-washing and constant propaganda, bloodstains from the Beijing Massacre remain blood-red and darkly incriminating. As every year, we urge Hong Kong people to attend the annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park on June 4 to remember Beijing's victims from 22 years ago and since.

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