FOR SEVEN weeks in 1989, China was convulsed by pro-democracy demonstrations that ended with the army’s killing of hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters in Beijing on June 3rd and 4th. In Hong Kong, then a British colony and a city that had long been considered politically apathetic, people watched on in horror. More than 1m people in Hong Kong attended each of three enormous rallies held in solidarity with the protesters in mainland China. Some travelled north, smuggling resources into Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the centre of the protests, and, after the crackdown, helping demonstrators flee the country. The …
