Record turnout at Hong Kong Tiananmen candlelight vigil

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Clad in black or white and cradling candles, Hong Kong residents transformed a park into a sea of lights on Thursday in memory of pro-democracy demonstrators killed in Beijing's Tiananmen Square 20 years ago.

While China has tried to whitewash the incident over the past two decades and has tightened security around Tiananmen Square in recent days, Hong Kong has long made the most of its freedoms to openly challenge Beijing to reverse its verdict on June 4 and fully account for the killings.

The turnout was estimated at 150,000 people, organisers said, as crowds overspilled from six football pitches in a downtown park. The figure was even higher than in 1990 when the annual vigil first began, underscoring the anniversary's poignancy.

But Hong Kong police put the estimate at around 60,000.

"We will never forget June 4," the crowds chanted while singing remembrance songs, waving candles and linking arms.

Many in Hong Kong acknowledge China's economic progress since 1989, but still find the memories of June 4 impossible to forget.

"I know China is improving, but I hope that they will admit that they fired guns and did wrong," said Kong Choi-fung, a 44-year-old church worker who took her two children to the vigil.

A recent survey found a record 60 percent of Hong Kong people want China to reverse its official verdict on June 4.