150,000 gather in Hong Kong for Tiananmen candlelight vigil

The gathering was larger than the one held on the first anniversary in 1990. An area the size of six football pitches was marked out for the vigil, but it proved to be insufficient, leaving hundreds queuing at the entrances of Victoria Park.

Protesters said they had turned out in force to remind the mainland government they had not forgotten the moment when the People's Liberation Army opened fire on students in Beijing on June 4, 1989.

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

The crackdown in Tiananmen was brought abruptly back into the public sphere last month when Hong Kong's premier, chief executive Donald Tsang, suggested to legislators that people should try to forget about the incident.

"[It] happened many years ago," said Mr Tsang. "The country's development in many areas has since achieved tremendous results and brought economic prosperity to Hong Kong."

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