香港デモ名物の「王おばあちゃん」　天安門追悼の１人デモで逮捕される

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】英国旗を掲げて香港の民主派デモに参加し、「王おばあちゃん」の愛称で香港市民に知られる王鳳瑶（アレクサンドラ・ウォン）さん（６５）が３０日、たった一人で天安門事件を追悼するデモ行進を敢行し、警察に逮捕されたことが分かった。（写真は香港の裁判所前で英国旗を掲げる王鳳瑶さん）
　王さんは３０日午後、中国政府の出先機関である香港連絡弁公室に向かって一人で歩いていたところを、違法集会に参加した容疑で逮捕された。抗議行動を一切容認しない当局の姿勢をはっきり示す対応といえる。
　王さんは２０１９年以降の香港民主派デモではおなじみの存在で、１９９７年の香港返還以降に中国政府の支配への抵抗の象徴となった英国旗ユニオンジャックを手に抗議する姿がよく知られている。
　１９８９年６月４日に起きた天安門事件から間もなく３２年を迎えるに当たり、民主派は香港連絡弁公室までの小規模なデモ行進を３０日に行う計画だったが、当局は許可しなかった。それでも王さんは同日午後、「３２、６月４日、天安門の悲しみ」と書いたプラカードと、香港の民主派運動を象徴する黄色い傘を持って現れ、一人で歩きだした。
　事件発生日の来月４日に予定された追悼集会についても、香港当局は昨年に続き、新型コロナウイルス流行を理由に開催を許可しなかった。ただ、香港市内では過去１か月間に市中感染は一切報告されていない。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/06/01-13:56）

Hong Kong police have arrested an elderly democracy activist as she made a solo demonstration over China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown in a vivid illustration of the zero protest tolerance now wielded by authorities in the financial hub.
Alexandra Wong, 65, was detained on Sunday on suspicion of taking part in an unlawful assembly as she walked towards Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong.
Wong -- known locally as Grandma Wong -- was a regular fixture of the huge democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019.
She could often be seen waving a Union Jack flag, a symbol of her dissatisfaction with Beijing's rule since the city was handed to China by former colonial power Britain in 1997.
Protest is now all but outlawed in Hong Kong.
Authorities have used both the threat of the coronavirus and security concerns to ban demonstrations.
A vigil planned for this Friday -- the 32nd anniversary of Beijing's 1989 crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square -- has been denied permission for the second year in a row.
Authorities have cited the coronavirus, although Hong Kong is currently celebrating no local transmission cases of unknown origin for the last month.
Activists had also sought permission for a small Tiananmen-themed march on Sunday to the Liaison Office, which represents the central government in the city, but it was also denied permission.
Wong turned up anyway that afternoon holding as sign that read 32, June 4, Tiananmen's lament and a yellow umbrella -- the latter a symbol of Hong Kong's democracy movement.
The South China Morning Post said the pensioner started chanting slogans in a park before heading towards the Liaison Office by herself, while being followed and filmed by police.
She was stopped twice.
I'm only by myself, just an old lady here. Why stop me? the Post quoted Wong as telling officers.
Soon afterwards she was arrested.
Police confirmed a 65-year-old woman surnamed Wong had been arrested for knowingly participating in an unauthorised assembly and attempting to incite others to join an unauthorised assembly.
Hong Kong's democracy movement has been crushed by a broad crackdown on dissent over the last year, including the imposition of a sweeping security law that criminalises much dissent.
In the middle of the 2019 protests Wong disappeared for more than a year.
She resurfaced saying she had been detained by mainland authorities during a trip to Shenzhen, a neighbouring city where she lived at the time.