Crowds began arriving for a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Tuesday evening marking 30 years since China's bloody Tiananmen crackdown, a gathering tinged with symbolism as the city struggles to preserve its own cherished freedoms.

The eye-catching spectacle -- in which tens of thousands of Hong Kongers clutch candles, sing songs and listen to emotional speeches -- is the only place in China were mass commemorations can be safely held.

The semi-autonomous financial hub has hosted an annual vigil every year since tanks and soldiers smashed into protesters near Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 -- an illustration of the city's unusual freedoms and vibrant political scene.

Organised by a group of veteran democracy activists, the vigil demands justice for victims and for China to embrace democracy.

But in more recent years the mass gatherings have taken on an increasingly contemporary significance as angst builds over Hong Kong's future.

Organisers expect a big turnout for Tuesday night's vigil, fuelled by both the milestone of the 30th anniversary itself and a renewed furore over defending the city from an increasingly assertive Beijing.

This year's vigil comes at a time of huge controversy over plans by the city's pro-Beijing government to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland for the first time.

The proposed law has sparked a backlash from figures in the legal and business communities as well as the largest demonstrations Hong Kong has seen since 2014, a year when pro-democracy protesters took over key intersections of the city for more than two months.

Tuesday's vigil also comes just weeks after key leaders of those protests were jailed.

"The candlelight of Victoria Park is a symbol showing Hong Kong's people cannot be bullied ... and proof that the Chinese Communist Party will never make Hong Kong obey," the Hong Kong Alliance, which organises the vigil, said in a statement.

- 50 year deal -

Hong Kong enjoys freedom of speech and assembly rights unseen on the Chinese mainland under a 50-year handover agreement between former colonial power Britain and China.

But many fear those liberties are being eroded and questioned Beijing's commitment to that deal.

In recent years protest leaders have been jailed and banned from politics while the disappearance into Chinese custody of a group of Beijing-critical booksellers rattled nerves.

Tiananmen survivors have previously appeared at past vigils but in recent years some have found themselves turned away by local authorities.

On Sunday, former protest leader Feng Congde was barred from entering the city on arrival at the airport and deported, organisers said.

Attendance at the vigil has remained above 100,000 for the last decade but the numbers have slipped the last four years after the 2014 democracy protests failed to win any concessions from Beijing.

Many younger Hong Kongers have since embraced "localism", which focuses on preserving local Cantonese culture and freedoms and regards mainland China as a hostile entity subsuming their city.

The proportion of those attending the vigil aged under 30 dropped from 55 percent to 31 percent between 2010 and 2018 according to surveys while student unions have boycotted the vigil the last five years.

Annual polling from the University of Hong Kong has shown consistent replies with a majority saying the Tiananmen students were right to protest and that China was wrong to suppress them.

One figure has changed markedly.

In the last five years the number of respondents saying China's human rights situation is now worse than 1989 has more than doubled from just 15 percent to 33 percent in the latest poll released Monday.

China warns its citizens of police harassment, crime in US
Beijing (AFP) June 4, 2019 - China on Tuesday issued a pair of travel alerts to its citizens going to the United States, warning them about police harassment and crime as tensions soar between the global powers.

The world's two largest economies have been locked in a protracted trade war, and any major drop in Chinese tourism to the United States could cost billions to the US economy.

While it did not threaten to curb tours to the United States, China has used tourism as a weapon during previous diplomatic rows with South Korea and Japan.

Tuesday's warnings were also issued as China angrily hit back at US criticism of its human rights record on the 30th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on Tiananmen protests, adding to tensions.

The foreign ministry said US law enforcement agencies have "repeatedly" used methods such as immigration and on-site interviews to "harass" Chinese citizens in the US.

It urged Chinese nationals and Chinese-funded institutions in the US to be cautious and "increase awareness and strengthen preventive measures."

"This is a response to the circumstances, China would not have done this if it was unnecessary," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.

"At the same time, I want to emphasise China holds an open attitude towards normal people-to-people exchanges and contacts between our two countries, but such exchanges and contact must be based on mutual respect," he said.

- US warns its citizens -

A separate travel warning by the culture and tourism ministry warned: "Recently, shootings, robberies and thefts have occurred frequently in the United States."

The statement urged Chinese tourists to "fully assess the risk" and "improve their awareness of safety and security".

Three million Chinese visited the United States last year, down from 3.2 million in 2017, according to the US National Travel and Tourism Office. They represent the fifth biggest group of foreign visitors, spending $36.4 billion last year.

This is the second US travel advisory issued by China over the past 12 months.

The Chinese embassy in Washington last July warned Chinese tourists to be aware of issues including the threats of public shootings and robberies, searches and seizures by customs agents, telecommunications fraud and natural disasters.

The warnings come a day after the education ministry said students and academics were facing US visa problems and urged them to assess the "risk" of travelling to the United States.

For its part, the United States warned its own citizens earlier this year that they could face arbitrary action by authorities when they visit China, including sudden prohibitions on exiting the country and harassment of citizens of Chinese heritage.

China's own visa process is onerous, especially for journalists, with some reporting delays and difficulties in getting or renewing visas.

- Trade war -

Ties between China and the United States have deteriorated after trade negotiations stalled last month without a deal to lift bruising tariffs on goods worth $360 billion in two-way trade.

Instead, the two sides hiked punitive tariffs, the United States blacklisted Chinese telecom giant Huawei and Beijing said it would create its own list of "unreliable" companies and individuals.

US businesses in China have complained about delays in customs clearance and other non-tariff retaliation after the trade war reignited.

Chinese state media have also dangled the threat of cutting exports of rare earths to the United States -- a key resource used in the production of everything from smartphones to military hardware.

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Hong Kong's alienated youngsters split over Tiananmen vigil
Hong Kong (AFP) May 31, 2019
Hong Kong's youth are shunning their city's annual Tiananmen vigil, focused on fighting their own pro-democracy battles instead of commemorating a historical atrocity against compatriots from whom they feel steadily more alienated. Students and youngsters have been at the vanguard of democracy protests that have convulsed Hong Kong in recent years as anger rises over inequality and Beijing's moves to chip away at the financial hub's unique freedoms. A vivid illustration of those freedoms has lon ... read more